What is GPT-4o Mini, OpenAI's newest launch?

Even a baby spider is cuter than its adult counterpart, so when OpenAI debuted a mini version of its most powerful model, you'll have to excuse my instinct to say "Awwww!"

That's probably not always the right response, instincts be damned. Because there isn't very much about this new mini version of GPT-4o that we'd describe as "cute."

OpenAI's new AI model, GPT-4o mini, is the AI startup's latest effort to make its chatbot the biggest in the game — even if it's tiny. The company says it is its "most cost-efficient small model."

"We expect GPT-4o mini will significantly expand the range of applications built with AI by making intelligence much more affordable," OpenAI said in a press statement.

OpenAI went on to specify that the tool currently only supports "text and vision in the API," but said that "support for text, image, video and audio inputs and outputs" will be integrated in the future. It did not specify when that integration will take place.

"I think GPT-4o Mini really gets at the OpenAI mission of making AI more broadly accessible to people. If we want AI to benefit every corner of the world, every industry, every application, we have to make AI much more affordable," Olivier Godement, who leads the API platform product, told The Verge.

On Thursday, most ChatGPT users — those who use it on a free, plus, or team plan — will be able to use GPT-4o Mini instead of GPT-3.5 Turbo. Enterprise users will gain access to the mini model next week.