OpenAI makes ChatGPT available for phone chat

OpenAI is giving users a new way to talk to its viral chatbot: 1-800-CHATGPT.

By calling the US number (1-800-242-8478) or messaging via WhatsApp, users can access an “easy, convenient and inexpensive way to try it out through familiar channels,” OpenAI said Wednesday. At first, the company said that callers will get 15 minutes free per month.

The news follows a flurry of updates from OpenAI as part of a 12-day release event. The most notable announcement was the official rollout of Sora, OpenAI’s busy AI video generation tool.

OpenAI recently hired its first chief marketing officer, indicating plans to spend more on advertising to expand its user base. In October, the company debuted a search feature within ChatGPT, positioning it to better compete with Google, Microsoft’s Bing and Perplexity.

It’s all part of an aggressive growth plan for OpenAI as the company battles Amazon-backed Anthropic, Elon Musk’s xAI, Google, Meta, Microsoft and Amazon in the fast-growing generative artificial intelligence market, which is predicted to top $1 trillion in revenue within a decade.

OpenAI closed its latest funding round in October at a valuation of $157 billion. The company also received a $4 billion revolving line of credit, bringing its total liquidity to more than $10 billion.

For the 1-800 number, users can call without an account, but the company said in a live stream that it is “working on ways” to be able to integrate WhatsApp messages with a person’s ChatGPT credentials.

The team built the tool “just a few weeks ago,” an employee said on the livestream.

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