Hello,
I am a developer and I have developed several tools that I would like to offer, maybe even sell. An openAI API key is required for these programs. I have read that it is not allowed to resell them. But if a customer buys the API key himself, that’s okay, right?
Will there be an easy way for end customers to get API keys?
If you were familiar with the OpenAI API system as a developer, you would know that there is no such concept as “buy an API key”. Unless it is from a criminal hacking enterprise. The type that says “your grandson is in jail, and Apple gift cards are needed to get him out”.
An API key is just an authentication method within one’s OpenAI account where a credit balance is funded and held. Funds do not belong to a key, the key is funded by an account. And yes, there is no transferring of accounts between individuals.
I am free to use my OpenAI account with whatever software I want to access the API directly from my computer to OpenAI, or from my backend server to OpenAI where the API key is secured.
However, would I trust any closed-source software, mobile app, or website with my API key? Heck, no. It is like the password to my bank account, and is a hacking target of malicious applications.
Much better is to offer services as an API developer. You have an API account yourself. Your application has user accounts. They sign up on your web site, pay their $10 or whatever to use your special AI (that is not branded “ChatGPT” or impersonating OpenAI), and then you can offer paid AI services yourself, whether via a web chatbot or an application that uses that user’s account on your service.