OpenAI Unveils New AI Model as Competition Heats Up 

The OpenAI logo is seen on a mobile phone in front of a computer screen displaying output from ChatGPT, March 21, 2023, in Boston. (AP)
The OpenAI logo is seen on a mobile phone in front of a computer screen displaying output from ChatGPT, March 21, 2023, in Boston. (AP)
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OpenAI Unveils New AI Model as Competition Heats Up 

The OpenAI logo is seen on a mobile phone in front of a computer screen displaying output from ChatGPT, March 21, 2023, in Boston. (AP)
The OpenAI logo is seen on a mobile phone in front of a computer screen displaying output from ChatGPT, March 21, 2023, in Boston. (AP)

ChatGPT maker OpenAI said on Monday it would release a new AI model called GPT-4o, capable of realistic voice conversation and able to interact across text and image, its latest move to stay ahead in a race to dominate the emerging technology.

New audio capabilities enable users to speak to ChatGPT and obtain real-time responses with no delay, as well as interrupt ChatGPT while it is speaking, both hallmarks of realistic conversations that AI voice assistants have found challenging, the OpenAI researchers showed at a livestream event.

"It feels like AI from the movies ... Talking to a computer has never felt really natural for me; now it does," OpenAI CEO Sam Altman wrote in a blog post.

Microsoft-backed OpenAI faces growing competition and pressure to expand the user base of ChatGPT, its popular chatbot product that wowed the world with its ability to produce human-like written content and top-notch software code.

At the livestream event, OpenAI researchers showed off ChatGPT's new voice assistant capabilities. In one demo, ChatGPT used its vision and voice capabilities to talk a researcher through solving a math equation on a sheet of paper.

In another demo, researchers showed the GPT-4o model's capability of real-time language translation.

OpenAI's demonstrations verged on science-fiction, with ChatGPT and its interlocutor at one point engaging in coquettish banter. The OpenAI researcher told the chatbot he was in a great mood because he was demonstrating "how useful and amazing you are."

ChatGPT responded: "Oh stop it! You're making me blush!"

Altman posted on X after the demo, "her," in what appeared to be a reference to the so named 2013 film by Spike Jonze about a man falling in love with his AI assistant, voiced by Scarlett Johansson.

OpenAI's chief technology officer, Mira Murati, said at the event that the new model would be offered for free because it is more cost-effective than the company's previous models. Paid users of GPT-4o will have greater capacity limits than the company's free users, she said. The GPT-4o model will be available in ChatGPT over the next few weeks, the company said.

In addition, free ChatGPT users now have access to a "browse" feature that enables ChatGPT to display up-to-date information from the web, Murati told Reuters after the event. The company does not intend to make money off free users through selling ads, Murati said.

Shortly after launching in late 2022, ChatGPT was called the fastest application ever to reach 100 million monthly active users. However, worldwide traffic to ChatGPT's website has been on a roller-coaster ride in the past year and is only now returning to its May 2023 peak, according to analytics firm Similarweb.

OpenAI made the announcements a day before Alphabet is scheduled to hold its annual Google developers' conference, where it is expected to show off its own new AI-related features. Reuters reported last week that OpenAI planned to announce an AI-powered search product, citing sources. But the company decided to delay the search product announcement, according to one source familiar with the matter.

Shares of Alphabet were down 0.4% on Monday afternoon, after falling nearly 3% earlier in the day. Microsoft shares were down 0.2%.



China’s Xi Lauds AI Progress, Meets BRICs Bank on Shanghai Visit 

Chinese President Xi Jinping waves as he arrives for a two-day state visit, at Hanoi's Noi Bai International Airport, Vietnam, April 14, 2025. (Reuters)
Chinese President Xi Jinping waves as he arrives for a two-day state visit, at Hanoi's Noi Bai International Airport, Vietnam, April 14, 2025. (Reuters)
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China’s Xi Lauds AI Progress, Meets BRICs Bank on Shanghai Visit 

Chinese President Xi Jinping waves as he arrives for a two-day state visit, at Hanoi's Noi Bai International Airport, Vietnam, April 14, 2025. (Reuters)
Chinese President Xi Jinping waves as he arrives for a two-day state visit, at Hanoi's Noi Bai International Airport, Vietnam, April 14, 2025. (Reuters)

China's President Xi Jinping urged Shanghai to accelerate efforts to turn itself into a technological and innovation hub with global influence as he made his first visit to the city since November 2023, state news agency Xinhua reported.

Xi said that Shanghai, China's main international financial hub, should strive to be at the forefront of artificial intelligence (AI) development and governance, the report added.

The Shanghai visit comes at a time when the trade war with the United States has raised the stakes for global economic growth, and as China pushes forward with AI development in the wake of DeepSeek.

Xi urged the city to expand its exploration of AI models and said more supportive policies for the technology should be rolled out, as he visited an incubation lab for AI startups and tried on a set of smart glasses, the report said.

The Chinese president also visited the Shanghai-based New Development Bank, a multilateral bank of BRICS member nations, and met its president, former Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff, Xinhua said.