ToolsThe story, in brief
OpenAI API
OpenAI just opened its models to developers. The API economy was born.
The KeyNews take
Why it matters
OpenAI's API launch democratized access to frontier models and created the developer ecosystem that would drive AI adoption across enterprise and consumer products. This was the infrastructure decision that enabled ChatGPT's later viral success.
The key facts
5 to knowOpenAI API launch — June 2020
First public access to OpenAI models via API
Foundation for third-party integrations and product builds
Preceded ChatGPT launch by 2.5 years
Established API-first monetization model for frontier AI labs
Go to the source
OpenAI Blogopenai.com
Publisher excerpt: We’re releasing an API for accessing new AI models developed by OpenAI.