OpenAI has confirmed the launch of a cut-price mini-model in an initiative to expand its user base, amid growing competition in the sector.
GPT-4o mini is available now, described by the company as “the most capable and cost-efficient small model available today,” based on GPT-4o. The new model will cost 60% less than OpenAI’s existing, cheapest option, but it will return a much greater level of performance.
A press release from the company set out the full details of the new product, which will immediately support text and vision, with plans to integrate image, video, and audio at a later point.
The ambition of “multimodality” is not a new juncture for OpenAI as COO Brad Lightcap told CNBC last year, “The world is multimodal. If you think about the way we as humans process the world and engage with the world, we see things, we hear things, we say things — the world is much bigger than text.”
“So to us, it always felt incomplete for text and code to be the single modalities, the single interfaces that we could have to how powerful these models are and what they can do.”
Confidence in the company’s direction
OpenAI – which is also said to be developing a Strawberry model to improve AI reasoning – has introduced 4o mini as part of moves to make AI “as broadly accessible as possible” but beyond the PR, there is a need to expand its services with more providers coming in to the AI space, especially those with smaller and free open source model options.
At the other end of the scale, Meta is expected to make a big splash very soon with the launch of Llama 3, its most advanced, free AI assistant.
There will be an expectation on company chiefs to stay ahead of the curve, and at the cutting edge of AI developments, especially from backers Microsoft but the relationship appears to be secure. Last week, the tech giant announced it would relinquish its observer seat on OpenAI’s board after witnessing “significant progress” in recent months and expressing “confidence in the company’s direction.”
GPT-4o mini is available now to free users of ChatGPT, as well as subscribers ChatGPT Plus and Team plans. The rollout is due to be extended to ChatGPT Enterprise users next week, as stated in the company press release.
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