OpenAI Announces A New, More Powerful AI Model for ChatGPT: The Making of a Live-Video Chatbot (with an Interview with Murati)

During a livestream from the company’s headquarters in San Francisco on Monday, Mira Murati, OpenAI’s chief technology officer, announced that ChatGPT will be powered by a new, more powerful AI model called GPT-4o. The model will be available to both free and paid users of ChatGPT via a new desktop app as well as the existing mobile app and web version.

“This just feels so magical, and that’s wonderful,” Murati said, adding, “over the next few weeks we’ll be rolling out these capabilities to everyone.”

Barret Zoph, a research lead at OpenAI, was recently demonstrating the new GPT-4o model and its ability to detect human emotions though a smartphone camera, when ChatGPT misidentified his face as a wooden table. After a quick laugh, Zoph assured GPT-4o that he’s not a table and asked the AI tool to take a fresh look at the app’s live video, rather than a photo he shared earlier. His voice said, before describing his facial expression and potential emotions.

In a post Monday, OpenAI’s CEO Sam Altman highlighted the significance of the new interface. “It feels like AI from the movies; and it’s still a bit surprising to me that it’s real,” Altman wrote. “Getting to human-level response times and expressiveness turns out to be a big change.”

There is no need for a special subscription to begin using the Openai GPT-4o model today. Just know that you’re rate limited to fewer prompts per hour than paid users, so make sure to be thoughtful about the questions you pose to the chatbot or you’ll quickly burn through your allotment of prompts.

In addition to limited GPT-4o access, non-paying users received a major upgrade to their overall user experience, with multiple features that were previously just for paying customers. The GPT store is open to anyone who wants to make a version of the app with custom instructions. Free users can also use ChatGPT’s web browsing tool and memory features as well as upload photos and files for the chatbot analyze.

Although some of the previously exclusive features for ChatGPT Plus are rolling out to non-paying users, the splashiest of updates are still offered first behind OpenAI’s paywall. The voice mode that Zph demonstrated on stage will be arriving in the next couple of weeks for the subscribers of the ChatGPT Plus.