OpenAI announced the release of its newest snack-sized generative model, dubbed GPT-4o mini, which is both less resource intensive and cheaper to operate than its standard GPT-4o model, allowing developers to integrate the AI technology into a far wider range of products.
It’s a big upgrade for developers and apps, but it also expands the capabilities and reduces limitations on the free version of ChatGPT. GPT-4o mini is now available to users on the Free, Plus, and Team tiers through the ChatGPT web and app for users and developers starting today, while ChatGPT Enterprise subscribers will gain access next week. GPT-4o mini will replace the company’s existing small model, GPT-3.5 Turbo, for end users beginning today.
The older model is still available to developers through the API if they don’t want to switch to 4o mini just yet. The company says it will retire the older model eventually but has not yet set a date.
GPT-4o has been available to free ChatGPT accounts since May, but there have been limitations around demand. According to the updated FAQ page, GPT-4o proper still has those limitations in place, but you’ll now get downgraded to GPT-4o mini rather than GPT-3.5 when you hit your limit. In theory, that’s a big win for those that haven’t upgraded to ChatGPT Plus.
We’re continuing to make advanced AI accessible to all with the launch of GPT-4o mini, now available in the API and rolling out in ChatGPT today. https://t.co/sTxtOfUapJ
— OpenAI (@OpenAI) July 18, 2024
Per data from Artificial Analysis, OpenAI’s newest AI model scored 82% on the MMLU reasoning benchmark, beating Gemini 1.5 Flash by 3% and Claude 3 Haiku by 7%. For reference, the highest MMLU benchmark to date was set by Gemini Ultra, Google’s top-of-the-line AI, with a score of 90%.
What’s more, OpenAI claims that GPT-4o mini is 60% cheaper to operate than GPT-3.5 Turbo. Developers will pay 15 cents per million input tokens and 60 cents per million output tokens. OpenAI says GPT-4o mini is “the most capable and cost-efficient small model available today,” per CNBC.
Where do those cost savings come from? Well, not every task that can be enhanced by AI needs the full weight and capability of a full-sized model like GPT, Claude or Gemini. Like swatting flies with a sledgehammer, utilizing a standard size LLM for simple but high-volume tasks is overkill and wastes both money and compute resources — which is where small LLMs such as Google’s Gemini 1.5 Flash, Meta’s Llama 3 8b, or Anthropic’s Claude 3 Haiku come in. They’re able to perform these simple, repetitive tasks faster and more cost-efficiently than the larger iterations.
According to OpenAI, GPT-4o mini will have the same size context window, 128,000 tokens (roughly a book’s worth of content), as the full-size version with the same knowledge cutoff as well, October 2023, though the company did not specify the new model’s exact size. The model API currently only offers text and vision capabilities, but video and audio will be coming in the future as well.
The announcement comes just a few weeks after OpenAI provided a long-awaited update on its anticipated, advanced Voice Mode as part of GPT-4o. The company’s update indicated that a smaller alpha release was still to come in late July, with a wider rollout being held for this fall.
Mozilla is giving Firefox’s Smart Window two new tricks. If you haven’t tried it yet, Smart Window is an optional AI mode in Firefox with a built-in chat that helps you get things done while you browse. With this update, it can fill out online forms using details from your tabs and keep an eye on websites for you.
Tired of typing the same details into every form?
The absolutely absurd idea of putting a touchscreen display on a mouse isn't exactly new. Turtle Beach already did it with its Command Series MC7, which features a 2.25-inch control screen. But apparently, even that wasn't ridiculous enough for Arctic Fox Technologies. Its new Super Mouse looks like someone took the chunky old Atari ST mouse, slapped a touchscreen and scroll wheel on it, and called it an upgrade.
The result is a rather unusual-looking mouse that is now on Kickstarter, starting at $199. And as ridiculous as it looks, some of its features are genuinely intriguing.
Apple is less than a day away from launching its highly anticipated OLED MacBook Pro with a touch-sensitive screen. But it appears that the upgrade is going to cost a pretty penny. According to a report by Bloomberg, Apple is reportedly eyeing a starting price of $2,899 for the 14-inch MacBook Pro, while the 16-inch version could start at $3,399 in the US.
"At $2,899, the 14-inch model would mark the highest starting price for a new MacBook Pro model, surpassing the $2,799 Apple charged for a 17-inch version introduced in 2006," says the report. The report claims that Apple is targeting a minimum price hike of $400 for its upcoming redesigned 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro models.