Hacker News Reader

Comment by kevinak | Hacker News Reader

This is what we in the Bitcoin ecosystem call an "Affinity Scam". Make it sound like something it isn't to capitalize on the hype.

It's honestly quite sad :(

View on HN

What is quite sad is that OpenAI has strayed from being open and for everyone like its original founding principles suggested. When GPT-4 came out they released hardly any technical information. This project was a response to that and suggests, rightfully, what OpenAI should be doing: creating this foundational technology and making advances that help everyone. Make it for all.

Sure, but that's a completely separate issue.

I realize this is a controversial opinion here at times, but, two wrongs do not make a right.

Unless it's piracy.

There is no wrong here though. The frontpage clearly states this is not chatgpt. No one is misleading anyone.

…except the name of the site.

Who do you think you’re kidding with this rationalization? It doesn’t matter whether your goal is to mislead people, it’s still deception to call something gpt4 when it absolutely isn’t. And your poor responses to this criticism speaks volumes about your character.

It isn't GPT4 and we don't call it that. And we clearly state that on our front page in first few lines. GPT is a term of art. OpenAI does not own it. You can think all you want about my character but I'm sleeping well. There is no effort to be deceptive and I've clearly explained what the name is about and why it was chosen.

Intentions are good here , but the name is highly similar and so if you want to promote the project it seems fitting to rename for the sake of gaining more trust from new users. It is annoying though that the open-source well-intentioned project has to make the change tho.

> This is what we in the Bitcoin ecosystem call an "Affinity Scam". Make it sound like something it isn't to capitalize on the hype.

At least we know there they've painted themselves into a corner because when GPT 5 comes out, it wouldn't make sense to call the project GPT5All.

Nor would we want to. 4all is what we're trying to do.

I think you've got a branding issue which many here have pointed out. Perception is reality, as they say. If you're going to take a dig at OpenAI for "having lost their ways", it might pay to come up with alternative naming that doesn't cause a distraction (noise in this thread and the attempt to explain it) because it can't be fun to feel the need to defend your choice, especially when you're unlikely to convince people who cannot unsee wordplay on GPT4. I checked out OpenGPT, but unfortunately that's already taken.

Another thing that could help make clear is to not mimic the UI style of ChatGPT.

No worries. People can get mad if they want, but I'm sleeping well. People have plenty of criticism on the internet; i'm rolling with it. Fact is thousands are using it and happy to have it so we've been delighting lots of people. Cheers.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com