Claude is kicking ChatGPT's butt (in one thing)

Summary

Back in high school, I remember receiving an email for a study guide from a friend. Instead of the PDF coming attached to the email, it was a link to a site called Dropbox. Upon opening the file, you create an account. From there you’re introduced to a feature stack that went well beyond any typical PDF: shared collaboration, comments, version history… the benefits of cloud computing- all within the familiarity of a PDF! Dropbox achieved strong network effects in the 2010s due to generous free tiers, easy file sharing, and one-click account creation. Last year, I wrote a blog post on network effects, guessing if (and how) they would be brought into the AI market. In the post, I argued two points: OpenAI began flirting with network-driven growth by introducing Custom GPTs in November 2023, and even more so when making them accessible to free users in May 2024. AI companies might not need network effects to succeed, as user-generated content might not be what incrementally improves these tools (rather, artificial content, better memory, & great UX) The rest of this post will be a follow-up of #1. In short, OpenAI appears to have basically abandoned Custom GPTs since their Spring ‘24 update, and I’m a bit stumped as to why. Sure, engagement might have been low, or a desire to shift the product team to other features like Canvas, improved memory, Deep Research, and Apple Intelligence integration. But, one would think that the allure of network effects would drive any consumer tech startup to continue toying with the idea! Meanwhile, Anthropic’s Claude has been quietly pursuing a more powerful way for users to build for other users. Two months after the Custom GPT release, Claude announced Artifacts, allowing users to create single-page HTML apps, among other things. Artifacts became a hit within the tech community, potentially mainstreaming “vibe coding” for the first time. Writer Simon Willison (or dare I say, fellow writer) became quite obsessed with Artifacts over th...