OpenAI's ChatGPT Now Surfs Web for Real-Time Information Access

OpenAI unveils an upgraded ChatGPT that can browse the internet, offering users real-time, authoritative information and enhanced data coverage from various sources.

OpenAI, which is backed by Microsoft, said on Wednesday, Sept. 27, that users of ChatGPT will be able to surf the web through the trained generative chatbot. The company further shared that it has expanded the data of its popular AI language tool to access up-to-date information. Previously, the chatbot was only trained to use data until September 2021.

ChatGPT’s Internet Browsing Feature

Likewise, with ChatGPT’s internet browsing capability combined with the expansion of its data coverage, users can now receive the latest information. This means people can ask the chatbot about current news and everything else, and it can provide fresh information, as per BBC News.

“ChatGPT can now browse the internet to provide you with current and authoritative information, complete with direct links to sources. It is no longer limited to data before September 2021,” OpenAI wrote in its social media post on X, formerly known as Twitter, on Thursday, Sept. 28. “Since the original launch of browsing in May, we received useful feedback. Updates include following robots.txt and identifying user agents so sites can control how ChatGPT interacts with them.”

New Voice Assistance and Image Abilities

Reuters reported that OpenAI also expanded ChatGPT to include voice and image abilities. This is one of the major updates to provide more service. This enables the chatbot to have voice conversations with users, unlike before when the interaction could only be done through chat.

Interaction with ChatGPT using images is now possible as well, and these new features reportedly made OpenAI’s chatbot closer to how Apple’s Siri AI assistant works. In any case, with the new voice and image abilities, users can directly ask ChatGPT some questions and receive answers by voice. For the images, the tool can discern images and give information about what it is about.

Who Can Avail of the New Features

Finally, CoinTelegraph reported that these new updates for ChatGPT are now available for Plus and Enterprise users who are using the GPT-4 version. OpenAI did not provide a date for other users but said these will be offered to them soon.

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