ChatGPT on WhatsApp does not require users to sign into their accounts to access the generative AI features.
OpenAI is currently offering 15 minutes of call time per month
ChatGPT on WhatsApp has received a couple of new upgrades. OpenAI introduced an official phone number for ChatGPT in December 2024, allowing people to save it on WhatsApp to access the artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot directly within the instant messaging app. At the time of launch, it only supported text input, but now the San Francisco-based AI firm has expanded the service to support images and audio messages as input as well. The new capability has been rolled out globally and users should be able to test it out.
First spotted by Android Authority, ChatGPT service via WhatsApp will now support image and voice messages as input. This means users can now send an image or an audio note to the AI's chat, and it will respond back. However, the chatbot only responds with text messages, and neither image generation nor two-way voice conversation is possible currently.
With image processing, users can now ask ChatGPT questions about any images, or even ask it to rate their memes. Using computer vision, the AI will be able to process the visual information and respond to the query. Do note, this feature will send the image to the OpenAI servers for processing, so images containing personal information or sensitive content should be avoided.
Similarly, with voice messages, users will not have to type their queries, especially when it is a long and wordy prompt. The chatbot can now process voice messages and respond to them via text outputs.
According to the Android Authority report, OpenAI is also planning to let users sign into their ChatGPT accounts on WhatsApp. However, it is unclear if it will bring any extra benefits to users. They will be able to synchronise these chats with the ChatGPT app or the web client, provided they have logged into the same account.
In December, OpenAI announced the new phone number for ChatGPT, which is +1-800-242-8478. Users globally can save the number to their device's contacts and search it on WhatsApp to converse with the chatbot. Additionally, those residing in Canada and the US can also dial the number from their smartphones or feature phones to directly speak with the chatbot. Notably, the company did not reveal which AI model was being used for this service.
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