OpenAI has taken the tech world by surprise with the sudden release of its ChatGPT app for Apple iOS. This unexpected move brings the power of generative AI to iPhones worldwide in a remarkably short timeframe, as it comes less than six months after the highly acclaimed chatbot made its debut on November 30. The availability of ChatGPT on iOS devices opens up new possibilities for users to engage in human-like conversations and harness the capabilities of AI directly from their iPhones. This strategic move by OpenAI demonstrates its commitment to providing accessible and innovative AI solutions to a broader audience, further expanding the reach of conversational AI technology.
According to a blog post, the company says that the ChatGPT app in the App Store “syncs your conversations, supports voice input, and brings our latest model improvements to your fingertips.”
OpenAI added that the app is free to use and syncs a user’s history across devices. It also integrates Whisper, the company’s open-source speech-recognition system, enabling voice input.
In addition, ChatGPT Plus subscribers get exclusive access to GPT-4’s capabilities, early access to features and faster response times.
In any case, as ChatGPT-like clones have flooded the App Store, and since open-source LLMs have been shown to work on smaller devices, it’s clear that this is a big move that OpenAI needed to make quickly. Apparently that didn’t leave much time to detail any efforts around safety issues — the only thing the blog post says is “As we gather user feedback, we’re committed to continuous feature and safety improvements for ChatGPT.”
But there is good news for non-Apple users, according to the blog post: “Android users, you’re next! ChatGPT will be coming to your devices soon.”
Users can download the ChatGPT app here.
