OpenAI releases its GPT-4 API in general availability, giving all paying developers access and planning to give new developers access by the end of July 2023
huge! https://openai.com/... @officiallogank : First, millions of developers have requested access to GPT-4 since it was announced in March. We are excited to extend access today to all organizations/devs with a history of successful payments. Access will be extended to all devs by July 31st. https://openai.com/... @openai : GPT-4 API is now available to all paying OpenAI API customers. GPT-3.5 Turbo, DALL·E, and Whisper APIs are also now generally available, and we're announcing a deprecation plan for some of our older models, which will retire beginning of 2024: https://openai.com/... Forums: r/ChatGPT : GPT-4 API general availability and deprecation of older models in the Completions API [GPT-4 API access available for everyone now!] r/ChatGPTPro : GPT-4 API general availability and deprecation of older models in the Completions API [GPT-4 API access available to everyone now!] r/GPT4 : GPT-4 API general availability and deprecation of older models in the Completions API [Everyone can access the GPT-4 API now!] Beehaw : GPT-4 API now generally availible Msmash / Slashdot : OpenAI Makes GPT-4 Generally Available
Context & Ripple Effects
OpenAI introduced GPT-4 with API access initially behind a waitlist; this move converts that limited rollout into a standard paid-developer offering. It follows the company’s earlier removal of the GPT-3 API waiting list, extending the same distribution model to a newer model family.
The simultaneous general availability of GPT-3.5 Turbo, DALL·E and Whisper and the planned retirement of older Completions API models make this more than an access change: it consolidates developers onto OpenAI’s current API stack.
First-order effects
- Paying API customers can build and deploy with GPT-4 without waiting for individual approval, while newer developers are scheduled for access by the end of July 2023.
- Developers using older Completions API models must plan migrations as OpenAI begins retiring some of those models in 2024.
Second-order effects
- Application makers can standardize new products around the broadly available GPT-4 API, while existing OpenAI customers face a near-term choice between upgrading models and adapting their integrations.
- Making multiple current APIs generally available concentrates demand on OpenAI’s maintained interfaces, increasing the importance of its model, pricing and deprecation decisions for downstream developers.
Third-order effects
- The release points toward frontier models being distributed as managed, versioned platform services rather than scarce, one-off research access; waitlists can become product-rollout mechanisms rather than permanent gates.
- If recurring deprecations accompany broader availability, model portability and migration planning will become durable operational concerns for companies building on proprietary AI APIs.
The trend: This is one data point in the platformization of frontier AI, as providers widen paid API access while steering developers toward a current, centrally managed model stack.