OpenAI announced on Tuesday that it has introduced a beta feature called 'Tasks' to its ChatGPT platform. This marks the company's entry into the competitive virtual assistant market alongside Apple’s Siri and Amazon’s Alexa.
Tasks will allow users to schedule actions such as one-time reminders for events like concert ticket sales and recurring updates, including daily weather forecasts or weekly news briefings. ChatGPT will also suggest tasks based on ongoing user conversations, though users retain the ability to accept or decline these suggestions.
The move comes as AI firms continue to attract significant investment, a trend ignited by ChatGPT’s debut in late 2022. This boom prompted Amazon to update its decade-old Alexa service with generative AI capabilities to stay competitive.
In December, Amazon CEO Andy Jassy revealed that a revamped version of Alexa, capable of taking autonomous actions without user prompts, is expected to launch in the "coming months."
Apple, meanwhile, has been integrating its 'Apple Intelligence' technology into Siri. As part of a collaboration with OpenAI, Siri will leverage ChatGPT’s capabilities, seeking user consent before engaging the service.
OpenAI plans to roll out the beta feature to Plus, Team, and Pro users globally in the coming days, starting with its web platform.