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Comment by simonw | Hacker News Reader

Presumably this is all because OpenAI offers free ChatGPT to logged out users and don't want that being abused as a free API endpoint.

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But do they do it whether you're logged in or not?

I noticed the ChatGPT app also checks Play Integrity on Android (because GrapheneOS snitches on apps when they do this), probably for the same reason. Claude's app doesn't, by the way, but it also requires a login.

Because accounts are free, and could still be used to abuse as a free endpoint, with a little trickiness.

Don't you need a Google account and to get a Google account you need a phone number?

"You're posting too fast! Please slow down."

You don't need a phone number to create a google account. (Though the account creation flow is inconsistent in this, in sone situations it will require a phone number, in some it won't.)

Yup.

Coincidentally about an hour ago, I wanted to look something up in ChatGPT and I happened to be in a browser window I don’t normally use, with no logged in accounts. I assumed it wouldn’t work, but to my surprise with no account, no cookies of any kind it took my query and gave me an answer.

>I assumed it wouldn’t work, but to my surprise with no account, no cookies of any kind it took my query and gave me an answer.

They allowed anonymous requests for months now, maybe even a year.

Yeah, additionally gemini.google.com is also free unauthenticated, which I've been using for a very long time (a year?). Why this is being treated as news is confusing.

Microsoft and Gemini can be used without account. just works! (talking about web app)

I used to mostly use chatgpt in an incognito tab, logged out. Until I notice it seems to have some context of my logged in session, and of the logged out as well. It may be paranoia or prompt deduction as well but that felt strange.

Yeah it works but it's a dumber model. Prob mini

You get a couple requests in at a smarter model and then it prompts you to sign up, and from there uses an extremely dumb model.

It is also intended to protect the usage patterns of pro subscribers.

As has been amply explained, the API pricing per token is far more for equivalent use when maximizing a subscription plan.

It isn’t really a massive hurdle to deal with this full SPA load check. If one is even aware it exists they already have the skills to bypass it anyway.

I get why people would “what about” the automation inherit in what OpenAI is doing but that is a separate matter.

Other businesses and applications can put into place their own hurdles and anti bot practices to protect the models they’ve leaned into—-and they have been.

Using 5.2 at 20 a month would also be a steal. Other shoe will drop on codex sooner or later

Its probably same for copilot.microsoft.com and their cloudfart usage

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