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OpenAI releases GPT-4, a multimodal AI that it claims is state-of-the-art

OpenAI has released a powerful new image- and text-understanding AI model, GPT-4, that the company calls “the latest milestone in its effort in scaling up deep learning.”

GPT-4 is available today to OpenAI’s paying users via ChatGPT Plus (with a usage cap), and developers can sign up on a waitlist to access the API.

Pricing is $0.03 per 1,000 “prompt” tokens (about 750 words) and $0.06 per 1,000 “completion” tokens (again, about 750 words). Tokens represent raw text; for example, the word “fantastic” would be split into the tokens “fan,” “tas” and “tic.” Prompt tokens are the parts of words fed into GPT-4 while completion tokens are the content generated by GPT-4.

GPT-4 has been hiding in plain sight, as it turns out. Microsoft confirmed today that Bing Chat, its chatbot tech co-developed with OpenAI, is running on GPT-4.

Other early adopters include Stripe, which is using GPT-4 to scan business websites and deliver a summary to customer support staff. Duolingo built GPT-4 into a new language learning subscription tier. Morgan Stanley is creating a GPT-4-powered system that’ll retrieve info from company documents and serve it up to financial analysts. And Khan Academy is leveraging GPT-4 to build some sort of automated tutor.

GPT-4’s first app is a ‘virtual volunteer’ for the visually impaired

GPT-4 can generate text and accept image and text inputs — an improvement over GPT-3.5, its predecessor, which only accepted text — and performs at “human level” on various professional and academic benchmarks. For example, GPT-4 passes a simulated bar exam with a score around the top 10% of test takers; in contrast, GPT-3.5’s score was around the bottom 10%.

OpenAI spent six months “iteratively aligning” GPT-4 using lessons from an internal adversarial testing program as well as ChatGPT, resulting in “best-ever results” on factuality, steerability and refusing to go outside of guardrails, according to the company. Like previous GPT models, GPT-4 was trained using publicly available data, including from public webpages, as well as data that OpenAI licensed.

OpenAI worked with Microsoft to develop a “supercomputer” from the ground up in Azure, which was used to train GPT-4.

“In a casual conversation, the distinction between GPT-3.5 and GPT-4 can be subtle,” OpenAI wrote in a blog post announcing GPT-4. “The difference comes out when the complexity of the task reaches a sufficient threshold — GPT-4 is more reliable, creative and able to handle much more nuanced instructions than GPT-3.5.”

Without a doubt, one of GPT-4’s more interesting aspects is its ability to understand images as well as text. GPT-4 can caption — and even interpret — relatively complex images, for example identifying a Lightning Cable adapter from a picture of a plugged-in iPhone.

The image understanding capability isn’t available to all OpenAI customers just yet — OpenAI’s testing it with a single partner, Be My Eyes, to start with. Powered by GPT-4, Be My Eyes’ new Virtual Volunteer feature can answer questions about images sent to it.

Be My Eyes explains how it works in a blog post:

“For example, if a user sends a picture of the inside of their refrigerator, the Virtual Volunteer will not only be able to correctly identify what’s in it, but also extrapolate and analyze what can be prepared with those ingredients. The tool can also then offer a number of recipes for those ingredients and send a step-by-step guide on how to make them.”

A more meaningful improvement, potentially, is the aforementioned steerability tooling. With GPT-4, OpenAI is introducing a new API capability, “system” messages, that allow developers to prescribe style and task by describing specific directions. System messages, which will also come to ChatGPT in the future, are essentially instructions that set the tone — and establish boundaries — for the AI’s next interactions.

For example, a system message might read:

“You are a tutor that always responds in the Socratic style. You never give the student the answer, but always try to ask just the right question to help them learn to think for themselves. You should always tune your question to the interest and knowledge of the student, breaking down the problem into simpler parts until it’s at just the right level for them.”

Even with system messages and the other upgrades, though, OpenAI acknowledges that GPT-4 isn’t perfect. It still “hallucinates” facts and makes reasoning errors, sometimes with great confidence. In one example cited by OpenAI, GPT-4 described Elvis Presley the “son of an actor” — an obvious misstep.

“GPT-4 generally lacks knowledge of events that have occurred after the vast majority of its data cuts off (September 2021), and does not learn from its experience,” OpennAI wrote. “It can sometimes make simple reasoning errors which do not seem to comport with competence across so many domains, or be overly gullible in accepting obvious false statements from a user. And sometimes it can fail at hard problems the same way humans do, such as introducing security vulnerabilities into code it produces.”

OpenAI does note, though, that it made improvements in particular areas — GPT-4 is less likely to refuse requests on how to synthesize dangerous chemicals, for one. The company says that GPT-4 is 82% less likely, overall, to respond to requests for “disallowed” content compared to GPT-3.5 and responds to sensitive requests — e.g. medical advice and anything pertaining to self-harm — in accordance with OpenAI’s policies 29% more often.

Image Credits: OpenAI

“We look forward to GPT-4 becoming a valuable tool in improving people’s lives by powering many applications,” OpenAI wrote. “There’s still a lot of work to do, and we look forward to improving this model through the collective efforts of the community building on top of, exploring, and contributing to the model.”

OpenAI releases GPT-4, a multimodal AI that it claims is state-of-the-art by Kyle Wiggers originally published on TechCrunch

OpenAI releases GPT-4, a multimodal AI that it claims is state-of-the-art OpenAI has released a new model -- GPT-4 that it claims is top-performing in its class, available to developers through an API.

DeSantis Attacks Apple For Allegedly Threatening To Remove Musk-Run Twitter From App Store—Joining Other Republicans - Forbes

Topline

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) on Tuesday joined a growing chorus of Republicans criticizing Apple after Twitter owner Elon Musk claimed the tech giant threatened to remove Twitter from its App Store, strengthening the GOP’s ties to Musk and amplifying their shared criticism of major tech companies.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

Getty Images

Key Facts

Removing Twitter from the App Store would be a “huge, huge mistake and a really raw exercise of monopolistic power,” DeSantis said Tuesday while speaking at an unrelated event in Duval County, adding that he believes the move would call for a congressional response.

Apple has not publicly responded to Musk, who tweeted about the alleged threat Monday afternoon, or confirmed that it threatened to remove Twitter’s app.

DeSantis speculated Apple’s alleged threat was based on Musk’s reinstatement of Twitter accounts that were “unfairly and illegally suspended for putting out accurate information about Covid,” he said, though Musk has said it’s unclear why Apple issued the warning.

Ohio Senator-elect J.D. Vance (R) also criticized Apple in similar terms, tweeting Monday that the move “would be the most raw exercise of monopoly power in a century,” hours after Musk initially made the allegation about Apple in a tweet.

Key Background

Musk spent part of Monday attacking Apple, claiming in a series of critical tweets the company threatened to pull the social media company from its App Store and cut back on advertising on Twitter. He also vowed to “go to war” with Apple if it continued its policy of charging companies that make over $1 million a 30% fee for in-app purchases. Since taking ownership of Twitter in October, Musk has loosened the company’s content moderation policies and reinstated a number of accounts that were previously banned for violating the platform’s policies against disinformation and hate speech, including former President Donald Trump’s. The moves have aligned Musk with lawmakers on the right who have blamed tech companies for unfairly censoring information that appeals to their voter base. But Apple prohibits companies that use its app platform from distributing “content that is offensive, insensitive, upsetting, intended to disgust, in exceptionally poor taste or just plain creepy,” according to its guidelines. Twitter’s former head of Trust and Safety Yoel Roth warned in a New York Times op-ed removal from the app store would be “catastrophic” for Twitter’s business, and said Apple’s enforcement practices are “fraught.”.

Surprising Fact

DeSantis’ support for Twitter comes days after Musk said he would back the Florida governor if he runs for president in 2024. Musk has taken ambiguous political stances for years as he’s donated to candidates from both parties, but he has recently made a marked shift to the right. Musk urged voters on Election Day this year to cast their ballots for GOP candidates and he has been heavily critical of Democrat-backed Covid-19 policies.

Tangent

Apple has faced antitrust allegations over its App Store policies in the past. The company is currently engaged in a court battle with online gaming company Epic Games, which sued Apple for refusing to allow it to use third-party payment processing systems. Apple disputed a court order that would have required it to offer alternative payment methods. The U.S. Department of Justice is also preparing to file a potential antitrust lawsuit against Apple over allegations it abused its market power, Politico reported in August.

What To Watch For

Antitrust legislation aimed at reigning in tech companies that dominate the app store market faces long odds for passage before the end of the year, as Congress wades through a hefty to-do list. The bill Lee called on Congress to pass on Monday, the Open App Markets Act, has bipartisan support, including backing from Democratic Sen. Richard Blumenthal (Conn.), but it has yet to make it out of committee. The legislation would prevent tech companies that operate app stores from forcing developers to use their systems and punishing ones who don’t, while also requiring fair prices for consumers.

Further Reading

Elon Musk Says Apple ‘Threatened’ To Boot Twitter From App Store—Here’s Why That Might Happen (Forbes)

Musk Says Apple Cutting Twitter Ads—Here Are The Other Companies Rethinking Their Ties (Forbes)

Elon Musk’s Political Shift: How The Billionaire Moved From Backing Obama To Endorsing DeSantis (Forbes)

DeSantis Attacks Apple For Allegedly Threatening To Remove Musk-Run Twitter From App Store—Joining Other Republicans DeSantis suggested Apple made the threat—which the company hasn’t confirmed—because of Twitter’s changing moderation rules under new owner Elon Musk.

Samsung Galaxy S23 series to allegedly launch at Unpacked, not at CES 2023: report - Neowin

Samsung will purportedly unveil the Galaxy S23 series in the US in the first week of February, according to a report by Korea JoongAng daily, citing a Samsung executive familiar with the matter.

The new smartphones will be announced during its Unpacked event, which will reportedly be held in San Francisco. It will also be the first in-person event by Samsung since the COVID-19 pandemic. Its exact date is not yet known, however.

Before this development, it was previously rumored that Samsung could show off the handsets in Las Vegas during CES 2023.

The Galaxy S23 series is expected to be available in three variants: Galaxy S23, Galaxy S23 Plus, and the Galaxy S23 Ultra. All of them are expected to pack the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chipset and ditch the Exynos chipset entirely. The processor is expected to have a higher clock speed than their original models, so users can expect faster smartphone performance.

What's more, the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra is reported to have a 200MP primary rear camera, which can help users take sharper photos than the Galaxy S22 Ultra. It will also pack a 12MP ultrawide and dual 10MP telephoto shooters. Finally, the device will likely have 12GB of RAM and up to 1TB of internal storage.

Source: Korean JoongAng daily

Samsung Galaxy S23 series to allegedly launch at Unpacked, not at CES 2023: report Samsung is apparently not going to unveil the Galaxy S23 series during the CES 2023 event, according to a new report. Instead, it could be landing around a month later at Unpacked.

Nvidia CES 2022 live blog recap: RTX 3090 Ti, GeForce Now on Samsung TVs and more - Tom's Guide

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2022-01-04T16:51:42.286Z

2022-01-04T16:51:34.253Z

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That appears to be it for the Nvidia CES 2022 special address livestream. A lot of exciting announcements were made, specially the RTX 3090 Ti. The AI tech used for self-driving vehicles was also impressive. Nvidia is not going to rest on its laurels this year, that's for sure.

2022-01-04T16:43:25.698Z

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Nvidia is explaining how autonomous driving is being upgraded. Letting your car drive itself seems dangerous but the tech could save lives. After all, how many people don't fall asleep at the wheel each year?

2022-01-04T16:42:54.911Z

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Nvidia is talking about its Drive Hyperion partners. It also talked about how it aims to improve driving electric vehicles and what the company is doing for the trucking industry. This is useful for those interested in EV.

2022-01-04T16:30:59.750Z

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The rumored RTX 3090 Ti was just announced. This is huge. More news is expected soon.

2022-01-04T16:30:53.075Z

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RTX 3080 Ti laptops announced.

2022-01-04T16:19:10.837Z

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Getting talk about Nvidia Studio and how it will help creatives get the most out of their projects. Nvidia is as committed to artists as it is to gamers.

2022-01-04T16:19:04.005Z

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GeForce RTX 3050 announced. You can play games at over 60fps. Starts at $249 from all of Nvidia's partners.

2022-01-04T16:13:12.262Z

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Dying Light 2 announced to have RTX and DLSS when it launches on Feb 4. It looks great!

2022-01-04T16:10:55.463Z

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Rainbow Six Extraction is coming on Jan 20 and will have RTX feature.

2022-01-04T16:06:25.104Z

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Getting some talk about GeForce Now. Battlefield 4 and Battlefield 5 were just announced coming to the platform.

2022-01-04T16:04:04.649Z

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The show kicked off with a size reel of games utilizing RTX cards.

2022-01-04T16:01:37.388Z

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Hey, everyone. Tony Polanco here to cover the big show -- which is now live!

2022-01-04T15:47:59.848Z

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Back to graphics cards, hardware maker EVGA has tweeted about the Nvidia Special Address, which is another clue that we could see some new graphics card today.

2022-01-04T15:45:28.359Z

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On the car side, we'd not be surprised to see Nvidia discuss how some of its AI-centric tech, which benefits from its graphics card parallel processing, is powering some of the latest concept electric cars, such as the new Mercedes Vision EQXX concept and its a mind-blowing 620 miles of range.

2022-01-04T15:31:15.063Z

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The GeForce announcements are also set to showcase some game footage, potentially unseen gameplay from the likes of Dying Light 2.

We'd eat our collective hat if ray tracing isn't mentioned a fair bit today. More games are implementing the graphics rendering tech to look more realistic and striking, so expect some very nice looking demos.

2022-01-04T15:27:03.893Z

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We're just over 30 minutes away from the Nvidia Special Event, and the Nvidia GeForce Twitter account is also courting down. We take that as a tentative clue that we could see some new GeForce hardware today.

2022-01-04T15:14:48.512Z

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LG's has revealed its smallest OLED TV to date, but it still packs in a lot of features including access to GeForce Now. With LG TVs offering a slew of gaming features, we can expect Nvidia to shine a light on such screens, as well as tout improvements to the GeForce Now service.

2022-01-04T15:11:23.782Z

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Expect to see more of LG's first gaming laptop at CES 2022 and likely at Nvidia's showcase, as it's set to use the powerful Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080.

2022-01-04T14:35:15.213Z

Not much in the way of tidbits on the graphics card side, but according to Reuters, self-driving truck company TuSimple will use Nvidia chips for its autonomous vehicles.

Nvidia CES 2022 live blog recap: RTX 3090 Ti, GeForce Now on Samsung TVs and more All the biggest announcements made during Nvidia's CES showcase