Hasn't the latest batch of AI's (gpt etc) all stemmed from work Google did years ago (transformers), and released white papers for, for free? No company has to offer APIs for you to play with, most don't in fact.
Sure, but chatgpt is so large in the public conscious because anyone can freely use gpt-3.5-turbo or pay a measly $20 for gpt-4. Some whitepapers made years ago pushed AI forward but didn't showcase its capabilities.
*Anyone not from a blocked country*
Kind of rich to say about OpenAI when Bard is still blocked in so many countries
Didn't mention Bard, but OpenAI will never be available in my country(Egypt). Bard is available tho.