ChatGPT will soon shop online, make PowerPoints on your behalf
OpenAI is rolling out new options for chatbot ChatGPT to carry out a variety of increasingly complicated tasks on a user's behalf, part of its push to bring so-called AI agents to the mainstream.
ChatGPT agent, set to be unveiled during a livestreamed event on Thursday, is designed to streamline personal and professional projects, such as planning a meal and ordering ingredients for it online, or creating a slideshow for a business meeting. The tool works through OpenAI's flagship chatbot and combines the capabilities of two AI services it rolled out earlier this year: Operator, which can browse, type and click on the internet much in the way a human would; and Deep Research, which is meant to handle time-consuming online research.
The San Francisco-based company said the agent features will be available immediately to its paid Pro, Plus and Team subscribers, with plans to release it later this summer to other enterprise and education customers. Some of the details of the software were previously reported by the Information.
A growing number of tech companies, including OpenAI backer Microsoft Corp and rival Anthropic, are focusing on agents, or AI software that can complete multistep tasks for users with minimal supervision. OpenAI Chief Executive Officer Sam Altman previously said agents will be "the next giant breakthrough' for AI. The hope is that such tools can save users time and thereby live up to the long-held promise that AI will make people more productive. For now, however, the software can still be frustrating and slow.
In a demonstration of the ChatGPT agent this week, Neel Ajjarapu, OpenAI's product manager for the software, gave the chatbot a detailed prompt: Browse Etsy for vintage-style lamps that are under a couple hundred dollars and available with free shipping, then put the best-looking items in his online shopping cart and provide a URL for each one.
OpenAI has also experimented with using the tool to make presentations and PowerPoints, Ajjarapu said, though he cautioned it's more for making "very early rough drafts' of presentations people can then refine. Microsoft, the company that makes PowerPoint, also offers AI tools to help professionals draft presentations.
Ajjarapu said the AI model that powers the tool uses a computer and web browser to complete assignments. It can also take in feedback from the user while a task is underway and alter its approach, he said. While users are accustomed to chatting in nearly real time with ChatGPT, it can take much longer – several minutes at least – for the chatbot to complete agent-like tasks.
AI agents present new safety and security risks, given the potential for AI to make mistakes or be misused by bad actors. The company said ChatGPT agent is meant to turn down some tasks, including those related to finances or legal advice. There are also a number of actions the tool will seek permission for before carrying out, including making purchases, the company said. For some tasks, such as writing emails, the service will require a user to supervise it.
As with the launches of Operator and Deep Research, the company acknowledged its latest agent effort still needs work.
"It is far from perfect,' said OpenAI Chief Product Officer Kevin Weil during the demonstration. "But I think if we had gone back six months ago or 12 months ago and said this was going to be possible today, we would have been pretty excited about it.' – Bloomberg
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Star
26 minutes ago
- The Star
Data centres continue to be key growth driver
HLIB Research said it foresees a DC award cycle in the second half. PETALING JAYA: The construction sector appears to be on a growth trajectory and share prices are catching up, according to Hong Leong Investment Bank (HLIB) Research. The key drivers of the growth story came from data centres (DCs) and public sector related jobs such as roads, railways and water, said the research house. 'The robust figure in the first half of the year reinforces the growth path for contracts in 2025, extending the order book expansion trajectory. 'In our view, with the sizeable data centre tenders set for awards in the second half, there is potential to match decade high flows last achieved in 2016,' it said. 'Domestic contract awards in the second quarter of the year came in at RM11.2bil, bringing the total sum in the first half to RM27.5bil, increasing by 33%. 'This is the fifth consecutive quarter of double digit contract value awarded,' HLIB Research added, noting that order books are poised to expand. The research house noted this being the fifth consecutive quarter of double digit contract value awarded which had expanded in the billions. 'In our view, with sizeable DC tenders set for awards in the second half, there is potential to match decade high flows last achieved in 2016,' it said. 'We are foreseeing a DC award cycle in the second half, to be driven by multiple award decisions for DC tenders placed in the first half of this year – this includes multiple multi-billion ringgit tenders for one US based hyperscaler,' it added. In the DC segment, HLIB Research noted that bigger projects are better for companies such as Gamuda Bhd , Sunway Construction Group Bhd and IJM Corp Bhd , given their competitive advantages such as balance sheet strength, track record and integrated structure. 'While news of potential artificial intelligence chip curb is concerning, in our view, Malaysian contractors are reliant on US and or Western-based hyperscaler names for sizeable DC jobs, thus mitigating uncertainties to a certain extent, in our view. 'DCs aside, the second half could see more action coming from the New Pantai Expressway extension, Penang Light Rail Transit (subcontracts and systems package) while sizeable road projects in Sabah and Sarawak may materialise,' it said. 'As for the commercial segment (including residential projects sitting on commercial plots), lack of clarity on sales and services tax treatment could weigh on the pipeline in the third quarter of the year,' HLIB Research added. The research house had an 'overweight' rating with its top pick being Gamuda – a 'buy' with a target price of RM5.70. It said contractors in the sector could broadly add to their order book from the DC segment as well as from infrastructure projects, while valuations at current levels provide room for upside.
The Star
3 hours ago
- The Star
Peru seizes 4 tons of black market mercury bound for illegal gold mines
LIMA (Reuters) -Peruvian authorities have halted a shipment of about four metric tons of mercury headed to Bolivia for presumed use in illegal gold mining, they said on Thursday, the latest sign of rising black market activity to fulfill soaring demand for the precious metal. The mercury had been passed off as a container of crushed rock, but Peru's customs agency SUNAT said an analysis revealed that the material had been laced with mercury, a toxic metal that is subject to strict environmental controls. "We could determine that mercury was being transported in its natural state, camouflaged in shipments of gravel," SUNAT said in a statement. The cargo was detected at the Callao port and came from Mexico, it added. The seizure appears to be the largest on record in the Amazon region of South America where illegal gold mining is widespread, according to a review of past seizures by the Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA), a Washington-based advocacy nonprofit. Until now, the biggest known shipment in the region, about a decade ago, was only half the size, according to the EIA. The latest discovery comes as gold prices have soared in recent months, as global trade uncertainty has made gold particularly attractive for investors. Gold prices are up 28.5% so far this year and hit a record high of $3,500 per troy ounce in April. The frenzy for gold has led to deadly encounters from West Africa to Peru. The EIA said it alerted Peruvian authorities to the shipment during its research into illicit mercury shipments from Mexico to Bolivia, Colombia and Peru, where miners use mercury to leach gold from sediment of the Amazon riverbanks. It said higher mercury prices were driving illegal mercury production in Mexico, with a particular spike since the start of this year as traffickers paid a record $330 per kilogram. "According to traffickers, gold miners' demand for mercury has driven the sophisticated operation and made it profitable," the EIA said in a report released on Thursday. It said its investigation showed that 200 tons of mercury were smuggled from Mexico to Bolivia, Colombia and Peru between April 2019 and June 2025, accounting for a conservative estimate of $8 billion in illegal gold. Peruvian officials did not address the role of the EIA in the discovery of the mercury-laced gravel from Mexico. (Reporting by Marco Aquino in Lima and Daina Beth Solomon in Santiago; Additional reporting by Polina Devitt; Editing by Leslie Adler)
The Star
7 hours ago
- The Star
Intel beats shareholder lawsuit over $32 billion stock plunge
(Reuters) -A federal judge dismissed a lawsuit accusing Intel of defrauding shareholders by concealing problems in a business where it manufactured chips for outside customers, leading to a $32 billion one-day plunge in its market value. While saying she "understands plaintiffs' frustrations," U.S. District Judge Trina Thompson in San Francisco ruled on Wednesday that Intel did not wait too long to reveal a $7 billion fiscal 2023 operating loss in its foundry business. Intel's stock price sank 26% last August 2, one day after the chipmaker announced more than 15,000 layoffs and suspended its dividend, hoping to save $10 billion in 2025. The Santa Clara, California-based company created the foundry business in 2021 to serve customers including and Qualcomm, while still making chips and wafers for internal use. In a 21-page decision, Thompson said Intel made clear that foundry results would be "obscured" until 2024, meaning its earlier financial reporting was not false and misleading. Thompson also cited an "overarching policy consideration" that because Intel's public statements suggested a "trial-and-error" approach to the foundry business, the company could have faced risks from reporting preliminary, unaudited data. The judge dismissed an earlier version of the lawsuit in March. Wednesday's dismissal was with prejudice, meaning the shareholders cannot sue again. A federal judge dismissed a lawsuit accusing Intel of defrauding shareholders by concealing problems in a business where it manufactured chips for outside customers, leading to a $32 billion one-day plunge in its market value. While saying she "understands plaintiffs' frustrations," U.S. District Judge Trina Thompson in San Francisco ruled on Wednesday that Intel did not wait too long to reveal a $7 billion fiscal 2023 operating loss in its foundry business. Intel's stock price sank 26% last August 2, one day after the chipmaker announced more than 15,000 layoffs and suspended its dividend, hoping to save $10 billion in 2025. The Santa Clara, California-based company created the foundry business in 2021 to serve customers including and Qualcomm, while still making chips and wafers for internal use. In a 21-page decision, Thompson said Intel made clear that foundry results would be "obscured" until 2024, meaning its earlier financial reporting was not false and misleading. Thompson also cited an "overarching policy consideration" that because Intel's public statements suggested a "trial-and-error" approach to the foundry business, the company could have faced risks from reporting preliminary, unaudited data. The judge dismissed an earlier version of the lawsuit in March. Wednesday's dismissal was with prejudice, meaning the shareholders cannot sue again. A federal judge dismissed a lawsuit accusing Intel of defrauding shareholders by concealing problems in a business where it manufactured chips for outside customers, leading to a $32 billion one-day plunge in its market value. While saying she "understands plaintiffs' frustrations," U.S. District Judge Trina Thompson in San Francisco ruled on Wednesday that Intel did not wait too long to reveal a $7 billion fiscal 2023 operating loss in its foundry business. Intel's stock price sank 26% last August 2, one day after the chipmaker announced more than 15,000 layoffs and suspended its dividend, hoping to save $10 billion in 2025. The Santa Clara, California-based company created the foundry business in 2021 to serve customers including and Qualcomm, while still making chips and wafers for internal use. In a 21-page decision, Thompson said Intel made clear that foundry results would be "obscured" until 2024, meaning its earlier financial reporting was not false and misleading. Thompson also cited an "overarching policy consideration" that because Intel's public statements suggested a "trial-and-error" approach to the foundry business, the company could have faced risks from reporting preliminary, unaudited data. The judge dismissed an earlier version of the lawsuit in March. Wednesday's dismissal was with prejudice, meaning the shareholders cannot sue again. Intel had been accused of inflating its stock price from January 25 to August 1, 2024. Lawyers for the shareholders did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Thursday. Intel and its lawyers did not immediately respond to similar requests. Intel has struggled to compete with rival chipmakers such as Nvidia, Advanced Micro Devices, Samsung Electronics and Taiwan's TSMC. and benefit from growth in artificial intelligence. The company lost $18.8 billion in 2024, its first annual loss since 1986. The case is In re Intel Corp Securities Litigation, U.S. District Court, Northern District of California, No. 24-02683. Lawyers for the shareholders did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Thursday. Intel and its lawyers did not immediately respond to similar requests. Intel has struggled to compete with rival chipmakers such as Nvidia, Advanced Micro Devices, Samsung Electronics and Taiwan's TSMC. and benefit from growth in artificial intelligence. The company lost $18.8 billion in 2024, its first annual loss since 1986. The case is In re Intel Corp Securities Litigation, U.S. District Court, Northern District of California, No. 24-02683. Lawyers for the shareholders did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Thursday. Intel and its lawyers did not immediately respond to similar requests. Intel has struggled to compete with rival chipmakers such as Nvidia, Advanced Micro Devices, Samsung Electronics and Taiwan's TSMC, and benefit from growth in artificial intelligence. The company lost $18.8 billion in 2024, its first annual loss since 1986. The case is In re Intel Corp Securities Litigation, U.S. District Court, Northern District of California, No. 24-02683. (Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New YorkEditing by Nick Zieminski)
