OpenAI announces new version of AI language model that fuels ChatGPT

OpenAI announced a desktop version of its conversation bot ChatGPT on Monday as well as the latest iteration of the AI language model that fuels the chatbot.

The fresh model offers improved speed and interactive capability when compared with the company's previous model GPT-4, OpenAI Chief Technology Officer Mira Murati said at an event livestreamed by the company.

Known as GPT-4o, the latest version eliminates lag time in the response from ChatGPT and allows users to interrupt the conversation bot with a new query that in turn elicits a modified response, Murati said. The improved capacity, Murati added, functions in response to text, audio and visual prompts.

"We're looking at the future of our interaction between ourselves and the machines, and we think that GPT-4o is really shifting that paradigm," Murati said. "This is the first time we're making a huge step forward when it comes to the ease of use."

An OpenAI researcher performed a live demonstration in which the new product identified the pace of his breathing and offered him advice on how to relax, and another in which the product provided immediate translation allowing for a conversation between someone speaking Italian and another speaking English.

In a separate demo, the product viewed a researcher's attempt at solving a math equation through his phone camera and provided real-time guidance.

GPT-4o will be released over the coming weeks, Murati said, adding that the company will make the product available gradually in an effort to prevent abuse.

"Our team has been hard at work building in mitigation against misuse," Murati said. "We continue to work with stakeholders."

OpenAI has sought to release fresh products and upgrades since the November 2022 release of ChatGPT, which reached 100 million app users within two months. That performance set a record for the fastest-growing app user base.

In March 2023, Open-AI released GPT-4, the latest version of its AI language model. Days after the release of GPT-4, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman told ABC News that the product scored in the 90th percentile on the Uniform Bar Exam. It also scored a near-perfect score on the SAT Math test, and it can proficiently write computer code in most programming languages.

GPT-4 could be "the greatest technology humanity has yet developed" to drastically improve our lives," Altman told ABC News at the time.

The announcement on Monday arrives three months after OpenAI unveiled its video-generation tool Sora.

Sora composes videos, lasting up to one-minute long, based on user prompts, just as ChatGPT responds to input with written responses and Dall-E offers up images. The video-generator is in use by a group of product testers but is not available to the public, OpenAI said in a statement in February.

The risks posed by AI-generated content have stoked wide concern in recent months.

Fake, sexually explicit AI-generated images of pop star Taylor Swift went viral on social media in late January, garnering millions of views. A fake image of pop singer Katy Perry at the Met Gala circulated widely online last week, even fooling Perry's mother

OpenAI posted a statement online in February outlining measures taken by the company to prevent abuse of Sora.

"We'll be taking several important safety steps ahead of making Sora available in OpenAI's products," the company website says. "We are working with red teamers  --  domain experts in areas like misinformation, hateful content, and bias  -- who will be adversarially testing the model."

In response to growing scrutiny over AI-produced content, tech platforms have taken steps to regulate such posts ahead of the November election.

Meta announced in February that it would begin labeling images created by OpenAI, Midjourney and other artificial intelligence products. Social media site TikTok said in an online statement last week that it would also start labeling such images.

The series of major product releases in recent years has coincided with leadership turmoil at OpenAI.

Altman abruptly stepped down in November 2023 from his role as CEO of OpenAI. After an employee revolt and a public apology from one of the company's board members, Altman was rehired for the position just four days later.

The decision included a condition for OpenAI to reconfigure its board of directors. Altman's return appeared to involve input from Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, whose company made a $10 billion investment in OpenAI last year.

At the end of the event on Monday, Murati hinted at a forthcoming product announcement.

"We also care a lot about the next frontier," Murati said. "Soon we'll be updating you on our progress toward the next big thing."

ABC News' Victor Ordonez contributed to this report.