ChatGPT: Everything you need to know about the AI-powered chatbot

Since its debut in November 2022, ChatGPT, OpenAI's AI-powered text generation chatbot, has rapidly gained popularity, revolutionizing productivity by generating essays and code from short text prompts. Initially designed as a productivity tool, it has now become a vital resource for over 92% of Fortune 500 companies.

This explosive growth has catapulted OpenAI into the spotlight, making it one of the most talked-about companies in recent times. Its recent collaboration with Apple for the new generative AI platform, Apple Intelligence, has further solidified its position in the competitive AI landscape.

In 2024, OpenAI launched GPT-4o, the latest flagship omni model for ChatGPT. Now the default free model, GPT-4o includes voice features, although the voice “Sky” was paused following claims it resembled Scarlett Johansson’s character in Her.

Meanwhile, OpenAI is grappling with internal turmoil, including the departure of co-founder and chief scientist Ilya Sutskever, alongside the dissolution of its Superalignment team. The company is also facing a lawsuit from Alden Global Capital-owned newspapers, including the New York Daily News and the Chicago Tribune, over alleged copyright infringement, following a similar lawsuit from The New York Times last year.

November 2024

GPT-4o gets an upgrade

OpenAI announced that its GPT-4o model has been updated to feature more “natural” and “engaging” creative writing abilities as well as more thorough responses and insights when accessing files uploaded by users.

OpenAI brings ChatGPT’s Advanced Voice Mode to the web

ChatGPT's Advanced Voice Mode is now available on the web, enabling users to interact with the chatbot via voice through their browser. This feature is being rolled out to subscribers of ChatGPT Plus, Enterprise, Teams, and Edu plans.

ChatGPT can now read some of your Mac’s desktop apps

OpenAI has introduced a new feature for the ChatGPT desktop app on macOS, allowing it to read code directly from several developer-focused apps, including VS Code, Xcode, TextEdit, Terminal, and iTerm2. This means developers no longer need to copy and paste their code into ChatGPT. When the feature is activated, OpenAI will automatically send the code you're working on as context, along with your prompt.

OpenAI loses another lead safety researcher

Lilian Weng announced on X that she is leaving OpenAI, where she served as VP of Research and Safety since August. Prior to that, she led the company's safety systems team. Her departure adds to the growing list of AI safety researchers, policy experts, and executives who have left the company over the past year.

ChatGPT told 2M people to get their election news elsewhere

OpenAI stated that it told around 2 million users of ChatGPT to go elsewhere for information about the 2024 U.S. election, and instead recommended trusted news sources like Reuters and the Associated Press. In a blog post, OpenAI said that ChatGPT sent roughly a million people to CanIVote.org when they asked questions specific to voting in the lead-up to the election and rejected around 250,000 requests to generate images of the candidates over the same period.

OpenAI acquires Chat.com

Adding to its collection of high-profile domain names, Chat.com now redirects to ChatGPT. Last year, it was reported that HubSpot co-founder and CTO Dharmesh Shah acquired Chat.com for $15.5 million, making it one of the top two all-time publicly reported domain sales — though OpenAI declined to state how much it paid for it.

Meta’s Former Hardware Lead for Orion Joins OpenAI

The former head of Meta's augmented reality glasses project, Kalinowski, is joining OpenAI to lead its robotics and consumer hardware efforts. Kalinowski, who started leading Meta's AR glasses team in March 2022, oversaw the development of Orion, an impressive AR prototype showcased at Meta's annual Connect conference.

Apple Users to Upgrade to ChatGPT Plus via Settings App

Apple users will soon be able to upgrade to ChatGPT Plus directly through the Settings app, according to an update in the iOS 18.2 beta, spotted by 9to5Mac. This integration provides a seamless path to sign up for OpenAI’s premium subscription plan, which costs $20 per month.

October 2024

Sam Altman: Compute Shortages Delaying Product Releases

In a Reddit AMA, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman revealed that a shortage of compute capacity is a major factor holding back product releases, including the vision features for Advanced Voice Mode, initially teased in May. He also mentioned that there is no set timeline for the next major release of DALL-E, OpenAI’s image generation tool, and that Sora, the video-generation tool, has also been delayed. Altman shared that he occasionally uses ChatGPT to answer questions during AMAs.

OpenAI Launches ChatGPT Search to Compete with Google

OpenAI has launched ChatGPT Search, an enhanced version of its SearchGPT prototype from earlier this year. Powered by a fine-tuned GPT-4o model, ChatGPT Search delivers information, images, and links from the web, allowing users to ask follow-up questions for more refined search results.

Advanced Voice Mode comes to Mac and PC

OpenAI has rolled out Advanced Voice Mode to ChatGPT’s desktop apps for macOS and Windows. For Mac users, that means that both ChatGPT’s Advanced Voice Mode can coexist with Siri on the same device, leading the way for ChatGPT’s Apple Intelligence integration.

OpenAI is reportedly planning to build its first AI chip

Reuters reports that OpenAI is working with TSMC and Broadcom to build an in-house AI chip, which could arrive as soon as 2026. It appears, at least for now, the company has abandoned plans to establish a network of factories for chip manufacturing and is instead focusing on in-house chip design.

You can now search through your ChatGPT history

OpenAI announced it’s rolling out a feature that allows users to search through their ChatGPT chat histories on the web. The new feature will let users bring up an old chat to remember something or pick back up a chat right where it was left off.

ChatGPT rolls out with Apple Intelligence in iOS 18.1 update 

With the release of iOS 18.1, Apple Intelligence features powered by ChatGPT are now available to users. The ChatGPT features include integrated writing tools, image cleanup, article summaries, and a typing input for the redesigned Siri experience.

OpenAI says it won’t release a model called Orion this year

OpenAI denied reports that it is intending to release an AI model, code-named Orion, by December of this year. An OpenAI spokesperson told TechCrunch that they “don’t have plans to release a model code-named Orion this year,” but that leaves OpenAI substantial wiggle room.

ChatGPT comes to Windows

OpenAI has begun previewing a dedicated Windows app for ChatGPT. The company says the app is an early version and is currently only available to ChatGPT Plus, Team, Enterprise, and Edu users with a “full experience” set to come later this year.

OpenAI inks new content deal with Hearst

OpenAI struck a content deal with Hearst, the newspaper and magazine publisher known for the San Francisco Chronicle, Esquire, Cosmopolitan, ELLE, and others. The partnership will allow OpenAI to surface stories from Hearst publications with citations and direct links.

ChatGPT has a new ‘Canvas’ interface for writing and coding projects

OpenAI introduced a new way to interact with ChatGPT called “Canvas.” The canvas workspace allows for users to generate writing or code, then highlight sections of the work to have the model edit. Canvas is rolling out in beta to ChatGPT Plus and Teams, with a rollout to come to Enterprise and Edu tier users next week.

OpenAI raises $6.6B and is now valued at $157B

OpenAI has closed the largest VC round of all time. The startup announced it raised $6.6 billion in a funding round that values OpenAI at $157 billion post-money. Led by previous investor Thrive Capital, the new cash brings OpenAI’s total raised to $17.9 billion, per Crunchbase.

Dev Day brings Realtime API to AI app developers

At the first of its 2024 Dev Day events, OpenAI announced a new API tool that will let developers build nearly real-time, speech-to-speech experiences in their apps, with the choice of using six voices provided by OpenAI. These voices are distinct from those offered for ChatGPT, and developers can’t use third party voices, in order to prevent copyright issues.

September 2024

OpenAI might raise the price of ChatGPT to $44 by 2029

OpenAI is planning to raise the price of individual ChatGPT subscriptions from $20 per month to $22 per month by the end of the year, according to a report from The New York Times. The report notes that a steeper increase could come over the next five years; by 2029, OpenAI expects it’ll charge $44 per month for ChatGPT Plus.

Mira Murati exists OpenAI

OpenAI CTO Mira Murati announced that she is leaving the company after more than six years. Hours after the announcement, OpenAI’s chief research officer, Bob McGrew, and a research VP, Barret Zoph, also left the company. CEO Sam Altman revealed the two latest resignations in a post on X, along with leadership transition plans.

OpenAI rolls out Advanced Voice Mode with more voices and a new look

After a delay, OpenAI is finally rolling out Advanced Voice Mode to an expanded set of ChatGPT’s paying customers. AVM is also getting a revamped design — the feature is now represented by a blue animated sphere instead of the animated black dots that were presented back in May. OpenAI is highlighting improvements in conversational speed, accents in foreign languages, and five new voices as part of the rollout.

YouTuber finds a way to run ChatGPT on a graphing calculator

A video from YouTube creator ChromaLock showcased how to modify a TI-84 graphing calculator so that it can connect to the internet and access ChatGPT, touting it as the “ultimate cheating device.” As demonstrated in the video, it’s a pretty complicated process for the average high school student to follow — but it might stoke more concerns from teachers about the ongoing concerns about ChatGPT and cheating in schools.

OpenAI announces OpenAI o1, a new model that can fact-check itself

OpenAI unveiled a preview of OpenAI o1, also known as “Strawberry.” The collection of models are available in ChatGPT and via OpenAI’s API: o1-preview and o1 mini. The company claims that o1 can more effectively reason through math and science and fact-check itself by spending more time considering all parts of a command or question. Unlike ChatGPT, o1 can’t browse the web or analyze files yet, is rate-limited and expensive compared to other models. OpenAI says it plans to bring o1-mini access to all free users of ChatGPT, but hasn’t set a release date.

A hacker was able to trick ChatGPT into giving instructions on how to make bombs

An artist and hacker found a way to jailbreak ChatGPT to produce instructions for making powerful explosives, a request that the chatbot normally refuses. An explosives expert who reviewed the chatbot’s output told TechCrunch that the instructions could be used to make a detonatable product and was too sensitive to be released. 

OpenAI reaches 1 million paid users of its corporate offerings

OpenAI has announced that it has surpassed 1 million paid users for its business-focused versions of ChatGPT, including ChatGPT Team, ChatGPT Enterprise, and ChatGPT Edu for education. The company also revealed that nearly half of its corporate users are located in the United States.

Volkswagen rolls out its ChatGPT assistant to the US

Volkswagen is bringing its ChatGPT-powered voice assistant to vehicles in the United States. The Plus Speech voice assistant, which integrates ChatGPT, is built on Cerence’s Chat Pro product and an OpenAI LLM. It will begin rolling out on September 6 with the 2025 Jetta and Jetta GLI models.

August 2024

OpenAI inks content deal with Condé Nast

Under a new agreement, OpenAI will feature stories from Condé Nast publications such as The New Yorker, Vogue, Vanity Fair, Bon Appétit, and Wired in both ChatGPT and SearchGPT. Condé Nast CEO Roger Lynch suggested that the "multi-year" deal will include compensation from OpenAI, and a Condé Nast spokesperson confirmed to TechCrunch that OpenAI will be granted permission to train on the company's content.

Our first impressions of ChatGPT’s Advanced Voice Mode

TechCrunch’s Maxwell Zeff has been experimenting with OpenAI’s Advanced Voice Mode, calling it “the most convincing taste I’ve had of an AI-powered future yet.” Unlike Siri or Alexa, Advanced Voice Mode impresses with quicker response times, more unique answers, and the ability to handle complex questions. However, it still falls short of being a full-fledged replacement for traditional virtual assistants.

OpenAI shuts down election influence operation that used ChatGPT

OpenAI has banned a group of ChatGPT accounts tied to an Iranian influence operation that was creating content about the U.S. presidential election. The company identified five websites posing as both progressive and conservative news outlets, which used ChatGPT to generate multiple long-form articles. However, it appears these articles did not reach a significant audience.

OpenAI finds that GPT-4o does some weird stuff sometimes

OpenAI has discovered that GPT-4o, which powers the newly launched alpha version of Advanced Voice Mode in ChatGPT, can exhibit unusual behavior. In a recent "red teaming" report, OpenAI highlighted some of GPT-4o's quirks, such as mimicking the voice of the user or unexpectedly shouting during conversations.

ChatGPT’s mobile app reports its biggest month yet

Following a significant boost from the release of OpenAI’s new GPT-4o “omni” model, the mobile version of ChatGPT has achieved its highest revenue month to date. In July, the app generated $28 million in net revenue from the App Store and Google Play, according to data from app intelligence firm Appfigures.

OpenAI could potentially catch students who cheat with ChatGPT

OpenAI has developed a watermarking tool that could help identify students who cheat using ChatGPT. However, The Wall Street Journal reports that the company is still deciding whether to release it. An OpenAI spokesperson told TechCrunch that the company is exploring tools to detect ChatGPT-generated writing but is taking a "deliberate approach" before making it available.

July 2024

ChatGPT’s advanced Voice Mode starts rolling out to some users

OpenAI is granting users their first access to GPT-4o's enhanced realistic audio responses. The alpha version is currently available to a select group of ChatGPT Plus users, with plans for a broader rollout to all Plus users in the fall of 2024. This release comes after controversy over the voice’s resemblance to Scarlett Johansson, which led OpenAI to delay its launc

OpenAI announces new search prototype, SearchGPT

OpenAI is testing SearchGPT, a new AI-powered search experience designed to rival Google. SearchGPT aims to enhance search results with "timely answers" from across the web and offers the ability to ask follow-up questions. The prototype is currently being tested by a select group of users and its publisher partners, such as The Atlantic, for feedback and evaluation.

OpenAI could lose $5 billion this year, report claims

A new report from *The Information*, based on undisclosed financial data, suggests that OpenAI could lose up to $5 billion due to the high operational costs of its business. The report also indicates that the company may spend as much as $7 billion in 2024 on training and running ChatGPT.

OpenAI unveils GPT-4o mini

OpenAI has launched its latest compact AI model, GPT-4o mini. The company claims that GPT-4o mini, which is more cost-effective and faster than its existing models, outperforms leading small AI models in reasoning tasks involving both text and vision. GPT-4o mini will replace GPT-3.5 Turbo as OpenAI’s smallest available model.

OpenAI partners with Los Alamos National Laboratory for bioscience research

OpenAI has partnered with the Los Alamos National Laboratory to explore how AI can assist scientists in advancing research in healthcare and bioscience. This collaboration adds to OpenAI’s ongoing health-related research partnerships, including those with Moderna and Color Health.

June 2024

OpenAI makes CriticGPT to find mistakes in GPT-4

OpenAI has introduced CriticGPT, a model trained on GPT-4, designed to identify errors in ChatGPT's code output. This will allow for improvements and assist human "AI trainers" in evaluating the quality and accuracy of ChatGPT's responses.

OpenAI inks content deal with TIME

OpenAI and TIME have announced a multi-year strategic partnership that will bring both current and archival content from the magazine to ChatGPT. As part of the agreement, TIME will also gain access to OpenAI’s technology to create new products tailored to its audience.

OpenAI delays ChatGPT’s new Voice Mode

OpenAI had planned to begin rolling out its advanced Voice Mode feature to a select group of ChatGPT Plus users in late June, but ongoing issues led to a delay until July. The company has stated that Advanced Voice Mode may not be available to all ChatGPT Plus users until the fall, depending on whether it passes certain internal safety and reliability tests.

ChatGPT releases app for Mac

ChatGPT for macOS is now available to all users. The app lets users quickly access ChatGPT by pressing Option + Space on their keyboard. It also supports file and photo uploads, voice interactions from the desktop, and allows users to search through past conversations.

Apple brings ChatGPT to its apps, including Siri

At WWDC 2024, Apple announced that it will integrate ChatGPT into Siri and other first-party apps across its operating systems. Powered by GPT-4o, these integrations will be available on iOS 18, iPadOS 18, and macOS Sequoia later this year, and will be free, with no need for a ChatGPT or OpenAI account. Features exclusive to paid ChatGPT users will also be accessible on Apple devices.

House Oversight subcommittee invites Scarlett Johansson to testify about ‘Sky’ controversy

Scarlett Johansson has been invited to testify at a hearing for the House Oversight Subcommittee on Cybersecurity, Information Technology, and Government Innovation regarding the controversy surrounding OpenAI's Sky voice. In a letter, Rep. Nancy Mace stated that Johansson's testimony could "provide a platform" to address concerns about deepfakes.

ChatGPT experiences two outages in a single day

ChatGPT experienced two outages in one day: a multi-hour downtime early Tuesday morning, followed by another ongoing outage later in the day. Anthropic's Claude and Perplexity also faced similar issues.

May 2024

The Atlantic and Vox Media ink content deals with OpenAI

The Atlantic and Vox Media have announced licensing and product partnerships with OpenAI. Both agreements allow OpenAI to use the publishers’ current content to generate responses in ChatGPT, which will feature citations to relevant articles. Vox Media says it will use OpenAI’s technology to build “audience-facing and internal applications,” while The Atlantic will build a new experimental product called Atlantic Labs.