ChatGPT
Microsoft is giving users ChatGPT Plus in Copilot app for free. Dado Ruvic/Reuters

In a significant move, Microsoft is offering ChatGPT Plus for free, which used to cost money. This is a big deal in the world of AI.

Microsoft recently updated its Bing Chat, which was rebranded to Copilot in November last year, with OpenAI's latest large language model (LLM) GPT-4-Turbo.

Notably, this version of the model was previously only available to ChatGPT Plus subscribers, who paid $20 (about £15.70) per month. As the name suggests, the Plus model can respond to more complex queries.

The Redmond-based tech giant has already incorporated Copilot into a wide range of products and services including the 365 productivity suite and Windows 11. Earlier this month, the company made its artificial intelligence (AI)--powered assistant available to Android and iOS as a standalone app.

Now, Microsoft is slowly rolling out GPT-4 enabled Copilot AI app to users who will be able to access larger memory, better processing capabilities and more up-to-date knowledge cutoff.

GPT-4-Turbo: What makes it different?

The turbocharged GPT-4 large language model offers a slew of advanced functionalities. For instance, the most recent version of GPT-4 has an updated knowledge cutoff compared to its predecessors.

It has information up to (and including) April 2023. Moreover, it comes with a larger 128k context window, which alludes to a memory equivalent to 300 pages of text.

In comparison, the base GPT-4 model's previous data cutoff was September 2021 and it had a context window of 32,000 tokens. As a result, the earlier model could not remember what you told it after about a hundred pages of text.

Aside from this, GPT-4-Turbo offers enhanced image analysis coupled with improved reasoning capabilities. So, it is safe to say that the Turbo version of GPT-4 is better at following instructions.

"GPT-4 Turbo performs better than our previous models on tasks that require careful following of instructions," OpenAI's Michael Schade recently noted in a blog post.

Accessing GPT-4-Turbo in Copilot

Last month, Microsoft said its AI tool would get regular upgrades. However, it is worth noting that the company has still not confirmed that GPT-4-Turbo is available within Copilot.

However, Tom's Guide reported that several users have noticed that the model listed in the source code of the Copilot website has the same name as the latest OpenAI LLM.

Interestingly, Microsoft has been making this change for Copilot users without much fanfare.

Aside from viewing the source code, you can check if you are able to access GPT-4-Turbo in Copilot by noting whether the AI is giving more up-to-date information.

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