ChatGPT Now Available Without Registration: Another 'Major Announcement' from OpenAI
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Now, you can use OpenAI's AI platform ChatGPT without registering an account.
On April 1st local time, OpenAI officially announced this new policy, which immediately sparked cheers across the internet.
After this opening, ChatGPT can be used right away upon opening, finally beginning to resemble an 'AI search engine' in its initial form.
However, this opening only applies to the free version of ChatGPT (version 3.5). Other OpenAI products such as DALL-E 3 and GPT-4 still require payment for access and, of course, a logged-in account. People immediately rushed to try ChatGPT's website, with users from many countries and regions reporting that login is still required. Some mentioned that login was needed the first time, but the same computer didn't require an account when checking again later.
Some users still encountered registration page barriers when accessing, even after trying multiple browsers, suggesting the feature is still in gradual testing phase.
OpenAI stated in a blog post: "We're rolling this out gradually to make AI accessible to anyone interested in its capabilities." From early user tests, the no-registration version of ChatGPT appears almost identical to the original. However, if you start a new conversation, previous chat records will be cleared and cannot be retained.
Additionally, OpenAI states that all information users input to ChatGPT will be recorded for continuous model improvement (regardless of login status). If you prefer not to share your data, you need to disable this feature in settings.
Since its initial launch in late 2022, ChatGPT has gained unprecedented global popularity as a new type of application, becoming the fastest-growing app in history. However, users have always been required to register an OpenAI account to use ChatGPT. With the continuous development of large model technology, OpenAI has gradually introduced paid subscription options to allow users access to more powerful models like DALL-E 3 and GPT-4. Additionally, users need accounts to save and view chat history, share chat content, and conduct voice conversations.
ChatGPT's product form has largely become the "standard" for large model applications.
However, before the release of GPT-5, ChatGPT can hardly be considered far ahead anymore. Recently, whether it's Google's Gemini, Baidu's ERNIE Bot, or Claude and Mistral, all have achieved excellent results in the field of large language models. Facing competition from peers, openness is a good strategy. Some believe that removing account restrictions on ChatGPT can attract traffic and obtain more valuable "interaction data." After all, improving AI capabilities requires not only large-scale datasets but also real-time user feedback.
Whoever can gather the most data possesses the potential to further enhance AI.
OpenAI stated that currently, over 100 million people from 185 countries and regions use ChatGPT weekly. According to traffic tracking website SimilarWeb, ChatGPT had an estimated 1.6 billion visitors in February. Despite the rise of Google's competitor Gemini, ChatGPT's position in generative AI remains unshaken. Meanwhile, other OpenAI products, such as the newly released AI voice cloning service Voice Engine and video creation platform Sora, remain available only to a limited number of users and partners, and are still not part of the free benefits for OpenAI account holders.
Previous reports about OpenAI and Microsoft suggested that GPT-5 would be released this year, and OpenAI may have provided early versions for preview to some enterprise users.