OpenAI may launch app store for AI models soon

Microsoft-backed OpenAI is reportedly considering launching an exclusive online marketplace for artificial intelligence (AI) software and models.

According to The Information, citing sources, the Sam Altman-run company is contemplating an app store where customers "could sell AI models they customise for their own needs to other businesses".

OpenAI CEO Altman apparently talked about an online marketplace in a meeting with developers last month. However, the report quoted a company spokesperson as saying that OpenAI doesn't have "active efforts" to build the marketplace.

OpenAI recently closed a $175 million investment fund focused on empowering other AI startups, with backing from Microsoft and other investors. The fund, called OpenAI Startup Fund I, is bigger than initially expected and is 75 per cent higher than the original plan.

The fund, managed by OpenAI CEO Altman and COO Brad Lightcap, raised the money from 14 investors, according to a US SEC filing. OpenAI has already been investing in AI startups for some time. During his India visit earlier this month, Altman said he is willing to invest in the homegrown startups.

Altman said that the company behind ChatGPT is not presently training GPT5 - the successor to GPT4. "We're working on the new ideas that we think we need for it, but we are nowhere close to the start. There need to be more safety audits: I wish I could tell you about the timeline of the next GPT," he said. Altman's comments came amid growing concern among AI researchers and Big Tech executives about the alarming pace at which generative AI technology is developing.