What to expect from OpenAI 'Shipmas,' a 12-day AI celebration
What's the story
Leading artificial intelligence (AI) start-up OpenAI is gearing up for a festive season of major AI announcements.
The company has scheduled a "Shipmas" period starting December 5, during which it will unveil new features, products, demonstrations for 12 straight days.
The upcoming announcements are likely to include the highly-anticipated text-to-video AI tool Sora and a revolutionary reasoning model.
Confirmation
OpenAI CEO confirms 12-day announcement spree
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman confirmed the 12-day announcement spree at The New York Times's DealBook conference. However, he didn't reveal what the announcements would actually be about.
The company plans to launch/showcase something new every day during this period.
The news has already got OpenAI employees excited, who have started hinting at the upcoming releases on social media platforms.
Controversy
Sora's launch follows artists' protest
The launch of Sora comes after a controversy where artists leaked the model in protest against OpenAI for allegedly using them for "unpaid R&D and PR."
Despite that, hundreds of artists have been alpha testing Sora throughout 2024 through an invite-only research preview.
The tool lets them create videos with Sora. Mira Murati, former OpenAI CTO, had previously said Sora would be available by year-end.
Competition
Google unveils Veo ahead of Sora's release
In related news, Google has also unveiled its latest generative AI video model, Veo, ahead of the Sora release.
Veo is now available for businesses to integrate into their content creation workflows.
First unveiled in May, three months after OpenAI announced Sora, Veo is currently available in a private preview via Google's Vertex AI platform.
Google's move adds a competitive edge to OpenAI's text-to-video tool Sora's upcoming launch.
Update
OpenAI may introduce new voice for ChatGPT
One of the 12 days of OpenAI's announcements could be a new Santa-inspired voice for ChatGPT.
Some ChatGPT users have reportedly found code that replaces the voice mode button with a snowflake, hinting at this festive update.
This potential introduction only adds to the excitement of OpenAI's upcoming "Shipmas" period and its string of AI announcements.