ChatGPT joins WhatsApp to allow anyone to access the AI chatbot

OpenAI said anyone, anywhere in the world will be able to message ChatGPT via its new phone number, 1-800-242-8478.

The AI firm said consistent access to high-speed data can be difficult and costly to many, and the new WhatsApp account would enable more people to try out ChatGPT through a familiar channel.

The Meta-owned messaging platform has around two billion monthly active users.

Those who do message the chatbot will be able to ask it anything, OpenAI said, with ChatGPT able to provide help with creative writing or project planning, offer recommendations or chat with users about general topics such as news, hobbies or trivia.

OpenAI is pushing to get ChatGPT in front of more users as it looks to increase its revenue streams and keep investors in the start-up happy, and faces ever-rising costs for the computing power needed to run its AI models.

The announcement is the latest in the firm’s 12 days of Christmas series of updates being unveiled during December, which has already seen the firm reveal its text-to-video platform, Sora, and a new top-tier subscription priced at 200 US dollars (£157) a month that will give subscribers access to the firm’s most powerful AI models.

While the WhatsApp version of ChatGPT will be useful, OpenAI said it remains an experimental way to talk to the chatbot, and so availability and limits may change.

The company encouraged users looking for a fuller experience with higher limits and more personalisation to continue using the technology via their main ChatGPT accounts.