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 [Video]

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 …