Why OpenAI's Announcement Was A Bigger Deal Than People Think

Summary

OpenAI's recent product event introduced a divisive update that has sparked significant debate. The event, initially thought to reveal a new search engine or personal assistant, unveiled GPT-4 Omni, a model with GPT-4 level intelligence that operates faster with enhanced real-time interaction capabilities across audio, vision, and text. This model, described as a significant step towards natural human-computer interaction, can accept and generate various input and output combinations, including text, audio, and images, with impressive response times. Additionally, the update made GPT-4 level models accessible for free, offering five times the capacity for paying users and prioritizing them for new features. The live demos showcased the model's conversational abilities, emotional awareness, and vision capabilities. While reactions varied, with some underwhelmed and others impressed by the model's capabilities, the update's significance lies in its transformative potential for human-computer interaction, its free accessibility, and its truly native multimodal functionality. OpenAI's CEO, Sam Altman, emphasized the company's mission to provide capable AI tools for free or at a great price, and the potential for AI to enable unprecedented productivity and interaction with technology.

Takeaways

• 📅 OpenAI held a significant product event, which was highly anticipated and divisive among the audience.
• 🚀 The event introduced a new flagship model called GPT-4 Omni, which is described as having GPT-4 level intelligence but faster and with improved interaction capabilities.
• 🔊 GPT-4 Omni is capable of real-time processing across audio, vision, and text, and can accept and generate a combination of text, audio, and image inputs.
• 🏎️ The model has a quick response time to audio inputs, averaging around 320 milliseconds, which is comparable to human conversational response times.
• 🆓 OpenAI made a GPT-4 level model available for free, which is a substantial increase in accessibility for all users.
• 📈 The update also included a 50% reduction in the cost of the API, making it more accessible for developers.
• 🎉 Live demos showcased the real-time conversational abilities, emotional awareness, and the ability to generate voice in various styles.
• 🖼️ GPT-4 Omni's new vision capabilities were demonstrated through solving a linear equation and describing what was seen on the screen after code execution.
• 🗣️ Real-time translation and emotion recognition from facial expressions were also demonstrated, highlighting the model's multimodal capabilities.
• 🤔 Reactions to the event were mixed, with some expressing disappointment while others found the updates to be groundbreaking and magical.
• 🌐 OpenAI's CEO, Sam Altman, emphasized the mission to provide capable AI tools for free or at a low cost, and positioned the new voice and video mode as a significant leap in human-computer interaction.

Q & A

What was the main focus of OpenAI's spring update event?

The main focus of OpenAI's spring update event was the announcement of their new flagship model, GPT-40, which is a multimodal model capable of processing text, audio, and visual inputs simultaneously.

Why was the GPT-40 model described as divisive?

The GPT-40 model was described as divisive because it sparked mixed reactions regarding its capabilities and the level of innovation it presented, with some people feeling underwhelmed compared to previous OpenAI releases.

What are the significant features of GPT-40?

Significant features of GPT-40 include its ability to process inputs and generate outputs across text, audio, and image modalities in real time, its high speed response similar to human conversational times, and its enhanced voice modulation and emotional awareness.

How did OpenAI enhance accessibility with GPT-40?

OpenAI enhanced accessibility by making GPT-40 available to free users, providing access to a GPT-4 level model, custom GPTs, and the GPT store, previously available only to paying users.

What does the 'Omni' in GPT-40 stand for?

In GPT-40, the 'O' stands for 'Omni', indicating the model's capability to operate across multiple modalities (text, audio, vision) simultaneously, aiming for a more natural human-computer interaction.

What was the public's reaction to the live demos of GPT-40 during the event?

The live demos received mixed reactions. Some attendees were impressed by the real-time capabilities and the natural-sounding AI voice, while others found the updates underwhelming compared to previous demonstrations like Google's duplex demo.

How did OpenAI address the expectations surrounding GPT 4.5 or GPT 5 at the event?

OpenAI made it clear prior to the event that they would not be releasing GPT 4.5 or GPT 5, setting the stage for the introduction of GPT-40 instead.

What does the reduced API cost with the introduction of GPT-40 imply for developers?

The reduced API cost by 50% with the introduction of GPT-40 implies that developers and businesses can integrate OpenAI's capabilities into their services at a lower cost, potentially broadening the model's usage and accessibility.

How does GPT-40 handle real-time translations during the demos?

During the demos, GPT-40 showcased its ability to perform real-time translations effectively. For example, it translated spoken English into Italian instantaneously, demonstrating its proficiency in handling live multilingual communication.

What future enhancements did Sam Altman highlight regarding GPT-40?

Sam Altman highlighted potential future enhancements like adding personalization, improving access to information, and enabling the AI to take actions on behalf of users, which he believes will significantly enrich the human-computer interaction experience.

Outlines

00:00

📢 OpenAI's Spring Update: A Divisive Milestone

The video discusses OpenAI's recent product event, which introduced updates that have sparked varied reactions. The event was initially anticipated to reveal a search engine to rival Google, but instead, it focused on a personal assistant update with enhanced voice features. The presentation was notable for the absence of Sam Altman, suggesting a potential shift in the company's direction. The update included a chat GPT desktop app, an updated user interface, and the introduction of GPT 40, a model with GPT 4-level intelligence that processes audio, vision, and text in real-time. The model's capabilities were demonstrated through various live demos, showcasing its speed, emotional responsiveness, and multimodal functionality. Despite initial skepticism, the update's significance lies in its potential to redefine human-computer interaction and its accessibility, with free access to a GPT 4-level model for all users.

05:01

🤖 GPT 40: Multimodal Magic and Mixed Receptions

The second paragraph delves into the technical aspects and public reception of GPT 40. It highlights the model's real-time conversational abilities, its emotional awareness, and its new vision capabilities. The paragraph also discusses the accessibility of the technology, with free users gaining access to a GPT 4 level model and paying users receiving increased capacity limits. The API was also made more affordable, dropping by 50%. Reactions to the update varied widely, with some critics finding it underwhelming compared to Google's offerings, while others were impressed by its capabilities. The paragraph also touches on the potential strategic timing of the announcement, aimed at preempting similar developments from Apple and Google. The significance of GPT 40's native multimodality is emphasized, as it processes all modalities within a single neural network, offering real-time voice translation and advanced image generation.

10:01

🚀 The Future of AI Interaction: OpenAI's Bold Bet

The final paragraph of the script reflects on the broader implications of OpenAI's update and the varied reactions from users and industry experts. It emphasizes the transformative potential of making a high-quality AI model freely accessible and the company's commitment to a new mode of human-computer interaction. The paragraph also speculates on the strategic timing of the announcement in relation to Google IO and Apple's ecosystem developments. The discussion includes the potential impact on productivity and society, with some commentators suggesting that the update may be more significant than initially perceived. The paragraph concludes by acknowledging the uncertainty of how these technologies will be adopted in the real world but asserts that OpenAI's update represents a significant step towards the future of AI interaction.

Keywords

💡OpenAI

OpenAI is a research and deployment company that develops artificial general intelligence (AGI). In the video, it is the organization that held a product event, which is the central focus of the discussion. The company's updates and announcements are what make the event significant and are the main subject of the video.

💡Product Event

A product event is a formal presentation where a company unveils new products or updates to existing ones. In this context, OpenAI's product event is pivotal as it introduces new features and models, such as GPT-4 Omni, which are discussed in detail throughout the video.

💡GPT-4 Omni

GPT-4 Omni is a new flagship model of AI introduced by OpenAI, described as having GPT-4 level intelligence but with faster response times and improved interaction capabilities. It is a significant keyword as it represents the technological advancement that allows for multimodal interaction (text, audio, and image) and is a core component of the event's announcements.

💡Multimodality

Multimodality refers to the ability of a system to process and understand multiple modes of input and output, such as text, audio, and images. In the video, GPT-4 Omni's native multimodality is a key feature, allowing it to accept and generate various combinations of inputs and outputs, which is a major step towards more natural human-computer interaction.

💡Real-time Interaction

Real-time interaction implies that the system can respond to inputs immediately, without significant delay. The video emphasizes GPT-4 Omni's capability to respond to audio inputs in as little as 232 milliseconds, which is comparable to human response times, highlighting a significant leap in AI interactivity.

💡Accessibility

Accessibility, in the context of this video, refers to making advanced AI technology available to a broader audience. OpenAI's announcement about making GPT-4 level models available for free to all users is a major point of discussion, as it signifies a shift towards democratizing access to powerful AI tools.

💡API

API stands for Application Programming Interface, which is a set of protocols and tools that allows different software applications to communicate with each other. In the video, it is mentioned that the new updates will make the API 50% cheaper, which is significant for developers and businesses that rely on OpenAI's technology.

💡Emotion Recognition

Emotion recognition is the ability of a system to identify and respond to human emotions. The video script discusses a demo where GPT-4 Omni is shown to recognize emotions by looking at someone's face, showcasing the advanced capabilities of the new model in understanding human emotional cues.

💡Personal Assistant

A personal assistant, in the context of this video, refers to the AI's role in aiding with various tasks and providing personalized responses. The updates discussed are aimed at enhancing the personal assistant capabilities of OpenAI's models, making them more integrated into daily workflows and interactions.

💡Demos

Demos are demonstrations of how a product or technology works, often showcasing its features and capabilities. The video script describes several live demos that were part of OpenAI's product event, including real-time translation and vision capabilities, which serve to illustrate the practical applications of the new AI model.

💡Divisive

Divisive refers to something that causes disagreement or controversy. The video discusses how the OpenAI product event and the subsequent updates have been divisive, with some viewers being underwhelmed and others being impressed, indicating a split in the audience's reception and expectations.

Highlights

OpenAI held a product event that was highly anticipated and divisive, focusing on the OpenAI Spring Update.

Speculation suggested a potential search engine to compete with Google and updates to personal assistant features, particularly voice capabilities.

Sam Altman was not the presenter, indicating the possibility of a less significant announcement than expected.

CTO Mira Muradi announced three key components: a chat GPT desktop app, an updated chat GPT UI, and a new flagship model called GPT-4 Omni.

GPT-4 Omni is described as having GPT-4 level intelligence, faster response times, and improved interaction methods.

The model can reason across audio, vision, and text in real-time and is designed for more natural human-computer interaction.

GPT-4 Omni can accept and generate a combination of text, audio, and image inputs and outputs.

Response times to audio inputs are as fast as 232 milliseconds, comparable to human conversational response times.

Free users now have access to a GPT-4 level model, with paying users gaining five times the capacity limits and priority for new features.

The API for GPT-4 Omni will be 50% cheaper, making it more accessible for developers.

Live demos showcased the real-time conversational capabilities, including emotional awareness and voice modulation.

GPT-4 Omni demonstrated advanced capabilities such as solving equations, real-time translation, and emotion recognition from facial expressions.

The update was met with mixed reactions, with some finding it underwhelming while others were impressed by its capabilities.

Sam Altman emphasized the mission to provide capable AI tools for free or at a great price, and the potential for AI to create benefits for the world.

The new voice and video mode is considered a significant leap in computer interfaces, resembling AI from movies with human-like response times and expressiveness.

The update represents a transformation in accessibility, multimodality, and a new mode of human-computer interaction.

GPT-4 Omni's native multimodality allows for processing text, audio, and vision in a single neural network, offering real-time voice translation as a special case.

The update is seen as a strategic move to counter potential competition from Apple and Google, who are also integrating AI into their voice assistance systems.

Despite initial reactions, some believe the update is underrated and will have a significant impact on productivity and the future of AI interaction.

Transcripts

open aai just held a product event and

it's easily their most divisive yet in

this video we're going to talk about why

it was actually a bigger deal than it

might seem at first welcome back to the

AI Daily Brief today is one of those

days kind of the opposite of some of the

ones we've had recently where everyone

is talking about just one thing and so

instead of doing our whole normal brief

than main episode sort of conversation

we are just going to focus on the big

thing that everyone is talking about

which is of course open AI spring update

now this is the event that has been

rumored for a couple of weeks for a

while there was speculation that we were

going to see a search engine some sort

of competition with Google and

perplexity but towards the end of last

week as the event apparently got delayed

a couple of days it started to come into

view that the most likely candidate was

some sort of personal assistant update

particularly around voice features now

this I believe will go down as one of

the most divisive initially product

updates that open AI has ever released

so what we're going to do on this show

is first we're going to talk about what

they actually shared and then we'll get

into the reactions and why I think it's

actually more significant not less

significant than it seems at first right

away the first thing you noticed when it

kicked off was that Sam Alman was not

the one presenting I could be totally

wrong but I initially took this as a

sign that perhaps it wasn't going to be

as big an announcement as we might have

thought sort of with the idea that they

were keeping Sam in the background for

the big major updates like GPT 4.5 or

GPT 5 now one of the things that you'll

hear a lot throughout this assessment of

what happened is that I think that

people's expectations or hopes really

more than expectations of GPT 4.5 or GPT

5 colored the way that they received

what was actually shared this is of

course in spite of the fact that open

aai did make it clear and advance that

we were not getting GPT 4.5 or GPT 5

quickly CTO Mira moradi honed in on

three big pieces of the announcement

first there was a chat GPT desktop app

second there was an updated chat GPT UI

and three and obviously the most

important there was a new flagship model

called GPT 40 basically this was

described as GPT 4 level intelligence

but faster and with better ways to

interact on open ai's website they call

it their new flagship model that can

reason across audio vision and text in

real time the O they write stands for

Omni and is a quote step towards much

more natural human computer interaction

it accepts any input as combination of

text audio and image and generates any

combination of text audio and image

outputs plus they say it's really fast

it can respond to audio inputs in as

little as 232 milliseconds with an

average of 320 milliseconds which is

similar to human response time in a

conversation

before they got into the demos the next

part of the announcement had to do with

accessibility specifically they said

with the efficiencies of gbt 4 Omni we

can bring this to everyone what that

meant was that free users now have

access to a GPT 4 level model custom

gpts the GPT store basically everything

that you were paying for before paying

users didn't have access to any

differentiated technology anymore

instead they had five times the capacity

limits they also would be first in line

for new features as we saw later in the

day as gbt 4 started immediately rolling

out and as we'll discuss in a little bit

the Improvement in what's available at

the free base level is hugely massive

and the only reason I think that it

wasn't talked about as such is that the

vast majority of people who are spending

their time watching an open AI product

video are probably already springing for

the GPT Plus account in other words the

free access part doesn't benefit them so

it's easier for them to overlook the

significance in aggregate we'll come

back to that though in a few minutes GPT

40 was also going to impact the API

specifically it was going to make it 50%

cheaper which which is obviously a

significant change from there we got

into the live demos of the real-time

conversational capacity of the chat GPT

app when Mira Mora asked what's

different from the existing voice mode

that we have the presenters answered

that you can butt in whatever without

throwing it off that it has realtime

responsiveness that the model picks up

on emotion and that it can generate

voice in a wide variety of styles this

emotional awareness is pretty

significant one of the demos that they

did was telling a bedtime story and the

two presenters kept asking it to change

your module ated speech based on some

new criteria so first they wanted it to

be more dramatic then even more dramatic

than most dramatic of all which it did

each time very successfully and then

they switched it to dramatic but in a

robot voice and then they had it sing

the end of the story I will note here

that even for people who weren't that

impressed with anything else many had

the same thought that cassette AI had

when they said got to give GPT 40 props

that's the most natural sounding AI

voice I've ever heard next up they

showed off the New Vision capabilities

first they did a linear equation where

they asked ask chat GPT to help walk

them through how to solve it so instead

of just pointing the screen at an

equation on a piece of paper and asking

it to solve it the presenters were

really using it as a tutor more than

anything else and in that way I think it

reflected what they were really showing

off which is these features as not

somehow Standalone but as part of a

complete assistant experience and

speaking of that assistant capability

they also did a demo where they brought

up the chat gbt desktop app specifically

the conversational version of it and

were able to ask it about the code that

they were writing in a different

application simp L by copying it into

the chat GPT window they also showed off

chat GPT describing what it saw on

screen after the code was run the two

other demos they did theoretically from

audience input were real-time

translation where one of the presenters

spoke in English and then Meo responded

in Italian with chat GPT operating as

the translator in real time and then

finally they asked chat PT to recognize

the emotions looking at someone's face

and then that was it it was a tight half

an hour there was no big one more thing

Steve Jobs type of moment and like I

said there were a lot of of underwhelmed

responses Abacus AI CEO Bindu ready

writes is this me or was that it what

even that was the single most

underwhelming thing I've seen this year

I'm not sure what's cool about this that

Google duplex demo from 2019 was way

better the only highlight if any was the

tone modulation which wasn't even that

spectacular Theo jaffy writes maybe I'll

be crucified for this but I actually

wasn't blown away by this demo like I

was for the releases of chat GPT and GPT

4 this seems more like a product update

than a foundational new capability

breakthrough on the flip side you add

folks like Pete from the the neuron who

wrote GPT 40 is magical absolutely

magical Rory wrote blown away that more

people aren't Blown Away we just went

from smartphone to iPhone Chris France

writes LOL new open AI model is better

than all existing models at everything

supports real-time vision and audio and

is free what but what about the team at

open AI what story were they trying to

tell well Sam Alman wrote it up

explicitly on his blog he said that he

wanted to highlight two parts of the

announcement first he said a key part of

our mission is to put very capable AI

tools in the hands of people for free or

at a great price I'm very proud that

we've made the best model in the world

available for free in chat GPT without

ads or anything like that our initial

conception he continues when we started

open AI was that we'd create Ai and use

it to create all sorts of benefits for

the world instead it now looks like

we'll create Ai and then other people

will use it to create all sorts of

amazing things that we all benefit from

we are a business and we'll find plenty

of things to charge for and that will

help us provide free outstanding AI

service to hopefully billions of people

second Sam writes the new voice and

video mode is the best computer

interface I've ever used it feels like

AI from the movies and it's still a bit

surprising to me that it's real getting

to human level response times and

expressiveness turns out to be a big

change the original chat GPT showed a

hint of what was possible with language

interfaces this new thing feels

viscerally different it is fast smart

fun natural and helpful talking to a

computer has never felt really natural

for me now it does as we add optional

personalization access to your

information the ability to take actions

on your behalf and more I can really see

an exciting future where we are able to

use computers to do much more than ever

before and so I think Sam is getting

here at two of the three biggest parts

of the announcement the transformation

that this represents when you make it

free and open AI bet on a new mode of

human computer interaction I'm going to

talk about each of those in some more

detail but the third that I want to

point out is truly native multimodality

of this this was an announcement that

was not for a technical audience at

least it didn't seem to be to me all of

it was incredibly simple language and

they didn't even show off some of the

capabilities in fact because they didn't

explain it some people question what was

going on underneath the hood Andrew gal

writes for my technical audience

thoughts on what's behind GPT 40 is it

really multimodal and not converting

things to text I.E you can replicate the

demo by using whisper to convert speech

to text use regular gp4 and then convert

the response to speech using 11 Labs it

would be entirely different if open a

was actually going from Audio Waves to

Audio Waves end to end without other

models in between definitely possible

and would explain the ability to

understand and hear breathing in the

demo but this is also doable without

that necessarily well Andre carpy

previously of the founding team of open

AI explained it this way he said they

are releasing a combined text audio

Vision model that processes all three

modalities in one single neural network

which can then do real-time voice

translation as a special case

afterthought if you ask it to in other

words yes this is true native

multimodality it is not taking language

tokens and then converting them will

deoo who works on video generation at

open aai says I think people are

misunderstanding GPT 40 it isn't a text

model with a voice or image attachment

it's a natively multimodal token in

multimodal token out model you want it

to talk fast just prompt it to need to

translate into whale noises just use f

shot examples an example that he showed

was character consistent image

generation just by conditioning it on

previous images he then showed an

example and if any of you have spent any

time trying to get consistent characters

with workarounds like style reference on

Mid Journey or creating a custom GPT as

I've done or using a thirdparty

application like scenario. the fact that

it might just natively have these

capabilities is pretty significant so to

me the three biggest parts of this

announcement were one the fact that this

best-in-class model was free for

everyone two the fact that it was truly

natively multimodal and three the fact

that open AI was clearly making such a

huge bet on this new type of human

computer interaction as the future of

how we interact with AI but what about

when people started to get their hands

on it how are the reactions then well s

Omar from cognosis writes GPT 40 is way

way faster than GPT 4 it feels like an

entirely different model insanely fast

Andre G again writes to everyone

disappointed by open AI today don't be

the live stream was for General consumer

audience the cool stuff is hidden on

their site some of the examples he gives

are text to 3D hugely Advanced text and

AI generated images Andrew points out

they're so confident in their text image

abilities that they can create fonts

with GPT 40 and a bunch of other huge

things as well Sully again writes okay I

get where chat GPT is going ultimate

workflow equals screen share with chat

gbt chat gbt operates the computer for

you you can interject chat all through

voice it's like having someone there

directly working with you in fact right

now as we're recording this streaming

live on X is someone coding and cursor

with GPT 40 basically as a live Cod and

companion others pointed out that the

timing of this was no accident Robert

scoble writes what was just announced by

open aai was designed to blunt attacks

by Apple and Google as both companies

are about to change their voice

assistance to llm based systems that

will fix most of the things we hate

about both Apple has lots of advantages

that it can brag about like you'll be

able to change the brightness on your

phone by talking to Siri or be

integrated into Apple's ecosystem I.E

can you put something on my reminders

app others pointed out that the chat GPT

demo today was B basically the demo that

everyone freaked out about from gini

Ultra back in December that then

everyone found out was edited to death

and not actually representative of its

true capabilities even more than that

though Google IO is happening tomorrow

and Logan killpatrick who notably used

to work at open AI shared a video of

what is presumably a Gemini assistant

looking at the io stage and explaining

it to the person holding the phone so it

seems highly likely that tomorrow we're

going to be having a very similar

conversation comparing to whatever they

announc at Google IO to what we got from

open aai today oh and as one fun little

aside they did confirm that the I'm also

a good gpt2 chatbot that everyone has

been freaking out about on limus is

indeed a version of GPT 40 that they've

been testing when it comes to real world

response certainly the real-time

translation demo seems to have had an

impact one little coder pointed out a 5%

drop in duolingo's price in the wake of

the demo siki Chan summed up where I

think a lot of people will end up in the

long run when he wrote this will prove

to be in retrospect by far the most

underrated open AI event ever he even

went further and said tldr GPT 40 is a

significantly larger improvement over

GPT 4 than 3.5 was over three gbt 40

equals gbt

4.75 I think the point here one that

will ultimately be proven out or Not by

our interactions with it is that this

native multimodality plus the ability to

input on the basis of vision and video

transforms the use cases of chat GPT in

a huge way that we're probably

underestimating initially another part

of this though was summed up by Aaron

Levy from box he wrot quot the

productivity unlock for Humanity is

pretty insane when AI can bring this

level of intelligence to anyone like I

said I think the reason that we're not

talking more about just how significant

the free shift is is that most of us who

are doing the talking right now have

been paying for chat GPT since the

moment we could giving billions of

people access to that though for free is

just likely to have an enormous enormous

impact on work society and everything in

between ultimately we'll see I think it

is in no way guaranteed that the way

that people will want to interact with

these Technologies is through these sort

of chat modalities or interactions with

video the real world will show us that

one way or another regardless of what

plays out though it's pretty clear that

open aai believes that this is truly the

future of interaction with AI I think

just because Sam Alman wasn't doing the

presentation just because they might

have rushed this a little to get in

ahead of Google IO and just because they

didn't announce formally 4.5 or GPT 5 it

would be a mistake to underestimate how

significant this update is in the minds

of open AI themselves however there is

going to be a lot more to discuss with

this especially with Google IO coming

tomorrow so that is going to do it for

this edition of the AI Daily Brief until

next time peace