You can now WhatsApp message ChatGPT or call it on the phone, even from an old rotary blower. What a time it is to be alive

OpenAI representatives using a rotary phone to call ChatGPT via the 1-800-ChatGPT phone number
(Image credit: OpenAI)

Ho ho ho, Meeeeerry Christmas. Do you hear that gentle jingling up on the roof? Could it be Santa, perhaps? No, that's OpenAI CEO Sam Altman.

Today, for day 10 of its "12 days of OpenAI" Christmas lead-up event, OpenAI has gone further than I expected by unleashing its chatbot from the tethers of the internet and into the telecom airwaves. Yes, you can now call ChatGPT or WhatsApp message it. Unfortunately (or fortunately?) you can only do the former if you live in the US, but if you live elsewhere you can still do the latter.

The number is 1-800-CHATGPT, and yes, it's toll-free. Which is how OpenAI is marketing it, by the way: "Call toll free, 1-800-ChatGPT." Nice. That's 1-800-2428478 for those unfamiliar with traditional keypad texting.

OpenAI's Keven Weil says that this is all about "making it [AI] as accessible as possible to as many people as we can."

As you can see from the image below, I found ChatGPT WhatsApp to work just fine. The QR code I've slapped on to the right-hand side is taken from OpenAI's video. If you scan it, it opens up the WhatsApp app and takes you to a conversation with ChatGPT.

A screenshot of a conversation with ChatGPT on WhatsApp, and a QR code that opens up the ChatGPT contact in WhatsApp.

(Image credit: OpenAI)

I can't test the phone calls as I'm not based in the US, but judging from the phone calls the OpenAI reps make in the video, that seems to work just fine.

I'm slightly jealous of those of you living across the pond after watching that video, too. If I could get over the initial embarrassment of doing so, I reckon being able to speed-dial ChatGPT could come in quite useful. A bit like using Siri, but... well, more conversational and better (sorry, Apple). Plus, you could even do so on a dumbphone.

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Just don't go using it as replacement for, you know, actual human contact. It's not a conscious human being. Maybe try hanging up on it a few times to get your mind used to that fact. It's not rude, it doesn't feel anything. Don't believe me? It even says so, unprompted, in our chat above.

So there you go, that's day 10 from OpenAI for you. There've been some smaller announcements from OpenAI over this 12-day bonanza, but some bigger ones, too. On day three, for instance, the AI company unleashed Sora, its video generation model. And now we have this: ChatGPT phone calls and ChatGPT on WhatsApp.

I wonder what the last couple of days will bring. I'm not sure much could top this, to be honest. Well, not much that doesn't have me breaking open the Skynet Defence Manual. And that wouldn't be very Christmassy, would it?

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Jacob Fox
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Jacob got his hands on a gaming PC for the first time when he was about 12 years old. He swiftly realised the local PC repair store had ripped him off with his build and vowed never to let another soul build his rig again. With this vow, Jacob the hardware junkie was born. Since then, Jacob's led a double-life as part-hardware geek, part-philosophy nerd, first working as a Hardware Writer for PCGamesN in 2020, then working towards a PhD in Philosophy for a few years (result pending a patiently awaited viva exam) while freelancing on the side for sites such as TechRadar, Pocket-lint, and yours truly, PC Gamer. Eventually, he gave up the ruthless mercenary life to join the world's #1 PC Gaming site full-time. It's definitely not an ego thing, he assures us.

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