OpenAI's GPT-4o (pronounced 'GPT-4 omni') is a major leap in AI capability. Unlike previous models that handled modalities separately, GPT-4o integrates text, vision, and audio natively.
It can respond to audio in real time with emotion, detect faces, read handwritten text, and reason over complex images.
The model matches GPT-4 Turbo on text and code but runs twice as fast at half the cost via the API, and is available to free ChatGPT users — a major democratization step.
Key features: Real-time audio with emotion, full vision understanding, 50% cheaper than GPT-4 Turbo, free tier access.