Since the beginning of April, ChatGPT has been a platform accessible without an account, like Google and Bing. OpenAI is banking on this change to make its service an essential reflex.
Since its launch in November 2022, ChatGPT has been a service accessible only with an account. This isn’t a problem for people used to using it, but others may feel unmotivated and leave. On the Internet, we must not neglect the number of users who do not like being asked things.
Used by more than 100 million people weekly, ChatGPT hopes to expand its notoriety with a very simple change: it is now possible to access the chatbot without an account, by going to chatgpt.com (which redirects to chat.openai.com, the real address). ChatGPT then becomes a real competitor to Google, since you can use it in a flash, with a simple question.
A change currently being deployed
Officially, OpenAI indicates that it is deploying this new feature ” gradually “. According to Numerama tests, the company applies a geographic restriction. The French continue to see the old interface, with compulsory connection. Americans (this is also possible with a VPN configured in the United States) see the ChatGPT interface directly, with the possibility of connecting at the bottom left.
The deployment in France should arrive in the coming days, when OpenAI will have adapted this new feature to European regulations. We can imagine, without confirmation from the company, that the GDPR and the DSA force it to add options.
ChatGPT transforms into a search engine
This change is important for ChatGPT, which could suddenly see a new type of user arrive.
Non-techies, who have necessarily heard of ChatGPT without making the effort to create an account, can now be tempted by a first question, then a second… For OpenAI, this opening of ChatGPT to an unauthenticated public opens up the doors to a new market: that of Google. Its objective seems to make ChatGPT a reflex when you have a question, rather than going through a traditional search engine.
Obviously, the absence of an account poses some questions in terms of data management. By default, an accountless ChatGPT shares the generated data with OpenAI, to improve the model. The settings nevertheless allow you to refuse the collection, to ask questions anonymously.
The free version of ChatGPT uses the GPT-3.5 model, without the ability to create images. To go further, unlock conversation history and personalize messages, you must always create an account. Opening up to browsing without an account is not intended to become the default solution, but to make discovering ChatGPT easier for the first time.
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