Could the GPT Store Turn ChatGPT into a Platform Powerhouse?
by Digital Business Institute Fellow Andrei Hagiu and Julian Wright, Harvard Business Review, May 2025.
“ChatGPT’s success to date has generated a debate about whether it could harness network effects to dominate the market for the type of generative AI product known as large language models (LLMs). Its growth has been driven by being a superior product, clever marketing, virality, and a strong brand, but these may not be enough against big tech competitors and open-source alternatives. It probably can’t count on one type of network effect to achieve a dominant position: data network effects—the information that a company gleans from users that enables it to improve its product. However, another type shows potential: cross-side network effects—similar to the ones between iPhone users and app developers. In January 2024, OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT, opened the GPT Store, which allows users to discover third-party GPTs built on top of OpenAI’s GPT models. OpenAI has an opportunity to turn it into a major platform franchise like Apple did with its App Store” Read the Full article.