Introduction:
Last November, Adam D’Angelo found himself at the center of a controversy in the tech industry when OpenAI’s board booted and then reinstated its CEO, Sam Altman. D’Angelo, the CEO of Quora, was on the board that dismissed Altman and brought him back. This article explores the challenges and opportunities in AI, the role of humans in knowledge sharing, and Quora’s approach to AI development.
Building an AI Platform:
Quora, known for its crowdsourced Q&A service, had been developing its own AI platform while fundraising. The company launched Poe, a platform for open exploration, which allows users to interact with chatbots, build their own bots, and offers a bot monetization program similar to OpenAI’s GPT Store. Quora faced questions about its relevance in the age of AI-powered search engines like Google and Bing.
The Role of AI and Humans:
Adam D’Angelo believes that while AI has made significant progress, humans are still better at providing answers. Quora’s user numbers remain high despite the proliferation of AI tools. D’Angelo sees AI as a tool to tap into the internet’s collective knowledge but acknowledges that AI cannot access the knowledge stored in human minds. He recognizes that AI still has limitations and a “hallucination problem” that affects the reliability of its answers.
Supporting Developers on Poe:
Quora opened up Poe to all users after beta testing and introduced tools for creating and browsing bots on its marketplace. The platform aims to provide developers with access to millions of users without worrying about distribution across platforms. Developers can earn money through referral programs and setting per-message rates. However, both Poe and OpenAI’s GPT Store face challenges such as spam and bot discovery.
Revenue Generation and User Base:
Poe is smaller than OpenAI’s ChatGPT in terms of user base. Quora relies on a subscription model for revenue generation, avoiding ads. Data from Sensor Tower indicates that Poe users have spent $7.3 million on subscriptions since its launch. Quora is experimenting with AI-generated answers but aims to maintain its focus on human knowledge rather than becoming an “answer engine.”
AI Tools and Future Plans:
Quora is developing AI tools for users to write answers and generate images based on their responses. The company is also utilizing AI to detect and address low-quality answers. D’Angelo emphasizes Quora’s relationship with OpenAI, highlighting that they are more collaborative than competitive. Quora is a significant customer of OpenAI and utilizes their models on Poe.
Conclusion:
Although Quora faced challenges from AI-powered search engines, the platform remains popular due to its focus on human knowledge. Quora’s Poe platform provides opportunities for developers to reach a large user base and monetize their bots. D’Angelo sees AI as a tool to enhance human knowledge rather than replace it. Quora’s revenue model relies on subscriptions rather than ads, and the company is focused on building AI across its business. Public listing plans are in the future, but not a current priority.