Update May 13, 13.30pm ET: OpenAI's 'Spring Update' event livestream, where it announced GPT4o, has now finished – but you can watch a rerun of the impressive live demos below.
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OpenAI has decided to gazump Google IO 2024, which starts tomorrow on May 14, with its own surprise 'Spring Update' launch event – and the latest rumors suggest we could be seeing a next-gen AI voice assistant.
The event, which was only announced a few days ago on May 10, kicks off at 10am PT / 1pm ET / 6pm BST on Monday, May 13. For those of you in Australia, that works out as 3am AEST on Tuesday, May 14.
So what will we see? OpenAI CEO Sam Altman was quick to shoot down rumors that the ChatGPT maker was prepping a new Google-rivaling search engine, posting on X (formerly Twitter) that the launch is "not GPT-5, not a search engine".
But he did also tantalizingly add that OpenAI has been "hard at work on some new stuff" that "feels like magic to me". Clearly, OpenAI is no stranger to Apple-style launch hype, but some new rumors suggest that we'll get a preview of a new AI assistant with voice powers that can also recognize objects and images.
More on those rumors below, but first here's how to tune into an event that'll no doubt also be watched by a slightly nervous Google...
How to watch OpenAI's ChatGPT and GPT-4 event
The OpenAI 'Spring update' event will be streaming live on the OpenAI website and also on YouTube at 10am PT / 1pm ET / 6pm BST on Monday, May 13 (or 3am AEST on Tuesday, May 14).
We've embedded the YouTube placeholder for the event above, so you can also watch it with us here. You can set a reminder for the event on YouTube by clicking the 'notify me' bell icon – you'll then get sent an email nudge before the event when it's about to kick off.
While the 'Spring update' event's description sounds slightly underwhelming, stating that OpenAI will "demo some ChatGPT and GPT-4 updates", the latest rumors are predicting a preview of something a little more exciting.
So while we're unlikely to be able to use the new AI tool immediately after the event, it sounds well worth tuning into if you want a glimpse of the future of AI voice assistants.
What to expect at OpenAI's 'Spring Update' event
Early reports suggested that OpenAI could be launching a big Google Search rival to change how we look for information on the web, but those rumors were dismissed by CEO Sam Altman.
Instead, it seems we could be getting a preview of a new multimodal AI digital assistant, according to a new report from The Information. It claims that the ChatGPT maker is preparing to demo an assistant that "talks to people – using sound as well as text – and recognizes objects and images".
That sounds like the kind of engine that would be ideal for some of the half-baked AI products we've seen likely, notably the Rabbit R1 and Humane AI Pin. In other words, a human-like assistant that could take us at least a step closer to the virtual assistant in Spike Jonze's iconic movie Her.
But as expected, The Information has reported that the new AI tool will be "too big to run on personal devices". Instead, expect this to be a cloud-based system that may initially be aimed at improving customer service agents rather than helping us in our day-to-day lives.
Either way, we'll certainly be tuning in – and also have the popcorn ready to see how Google responds at Google I/O 2024.
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