Smartphone users can download a ChatGPT app now, but only in the US

Six months after its launch, OpenAI’s AI-powered ChatGPT, which has taken the internet by storm, is coming to smartphones. OpenAI, the company behind the ChatGPT chatbot, said on Thursday it is introducing the ChatGPT app for Apple's iOS devices. 

The new ChatGPT app will be free to use and free from ads, the company said in its official blog, and will initially be rolled out only to the U.S. users. That said, Indian users of Apple iPhone have to wait for some more time. 

However, the company mentioned that even though the rollout of the new app will start in the U.S. today but it will expand to other countries in the “coming weeks.” An Android version is also teased as “coming soon”, the blog post noted.  

Like its desktop counterpart, the ChatGPT app allows users to interact with an AI chatbot to ask questions without running a traditional web search, plus get advice, find inspiration, learn, research, and more.  

The new release could push more users to try ChatGPT on their iPhone as their primary source of information given that Apple’s own voice assistant, Siri often has multiple issue, believe experts. The launch could also potentially impact Google, as the search engine today benefits from being the default search engine in Safari on Apple’s iPhone, the company said. 

When using the mobile version of ChatGPT, the app will sync your history across devices. This means that “users will know what you’ve previously searched for via its web interface, and make that accessible to you”. The app is also integrated with Whisper, OpenAI’s open source speech recognition system, to allow for voice input. 

Users who pay for OpenAI’s ChatGPT Plus subscription can also use its most powerful large language model, GPT-4, via the app. "ChatGPT Plus subscribers get exclusive access to GPT-4's capabilities, early access to features and faster response times, all on iOS," the company added. 

GPT-4 is a large language model created by OpenAI, and the fourth in its numbered "GPT-n" series of GPT foundation models.  It also includes voice recognition so users will be able to speak their queries. 

ChatGPT Plus subscription provides several benefits such as quicker response times, priority access to new features, and uninterrupted service during peak periods.  

The company said it was starting the roll-out for iOS in the US and will expand to additional countries in the coming weeks. Earlier in February, OpenAI launched a pilot subscription plan for its popular AI-powered chatbot, called ChatGPT Plus, for $20 per month.  

The ChatGPT app’s launch comes at a time when major tech companies, including Google, Microsoft, and Facebook, are experimenting with AI, and in the case of Google and Microsoft, also integrating AI capabilities into their search engines.