OpenAI has announced a new way to chat with its AI-powered chatbot ChatGPT, via the WhatsApp messaging app and via phone calls, using the new 1-800-ChatGPT contact, which can be stored on your smartphone like any other phone number.
Although users can currently access ChatGPT’s capabilities through its web version, as well as through apps for iOS, Android, Mac and Windows devices, the company led by Sam Altman has stressed its intention to continue bringing general artificial intelligence technology to more users.
In this sense, OpenAI has announced the arrival of ChatGPT to the Meta social messaging network, WhatsApp, as well as the possibility of making calls with the ‘chatbot’, by creating a contact for ChatGPT that users can save on their smartphones as another phone number.
As the technology company explained in a video on its website, OpenAI has created the contact 1-800-ChatGPT, which uses the American phone number 1 (800) 242-8478. In this way, users can use it either to make phone calls or to chat with it through WhatsApp messages.
In the case of WhatsApp, the ‘chatbot’ is powered by the GPT-4o mini model, although it must be taken into account that it is limited to text input, so it will only be possible to interact through messages and does not support image or voice input. That is, it will not understand the sending of images or audio through the ‘app’.
Likewise, to chat with ChatGPT on WhatsApp, it will be enough to start a new chat with the previously saved contact 1-800-ChatGPT, just as conversations are started with other new contacts. However, since it is an American number, it must be saved with the +1 prefix so that WhatsApp recognizes it in Spain.
After that, as exemplified by OpenAI, users can ask questions to the ‘chatbot’, ask for recommendations or consult data through text entries, and ChatGPT will also offer text responses with the requested information. All of this is available in several languages, including Spanish.
On the other hand, the company has indicated that the contact can also be used to make phone calls to the number 1 (800) 242-8478. In this case, it is a function available exclusively to users who are in the United States.
All you need to do is call the phone number provided to chat with ChatGPT using its advanced voice capabilities, allowing for queries to be made using natural conversations. OpenAI thus gives anyone access to its AI capabilities directly through the use of a telephone line.
