OpenAI gpt-image-1. Perplexity Voice Assistant. Grok Vision Mode & Hailuo Character Reference!

AI News - April 23

OpenAI opens up image generation to developers the Perplexity app gets a full voice assistant Grok gets a new Vision mode Hailuo brings character control to its video model. Here's today's AI news. OpenAI has announced that image generation will now be available via its API.

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They've launched gpt-image-1 that will allow developers to access the power of ChatGPT's image generation capabilities. This will result in a whole world of possibilities in app and web development and we're likely to see this getting integrated into a whole host of services. But please just don't turn everything into Ghibli images.

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Perplexity has launched its iOS voice assistant that enables users to take on multi app tasks like booking reservations, sending emails and playing media. This builds on the initial voice mode that was launched earlier this year. Perplexity's mission is to build models that enable users to feel like they have a super powered personal assistant, so this is a big step in that direction for them.

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Grok has also been making some major Updates to their iOS app. The latest version now has a Vision mode similar to Gemini Live, Multilingual Audio and Real Time Search in Voice mode. It seems like the Multilingual Audio and Real Time Search are available on Android for super Grok Plan subscribers, but sadly there's no Vision mode yet.

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Even so, this is a major enhancement for the Grok app and these kinds of releases will keep Grok in the top contender spots. And finally, Hailuo has added a new 'character reference' feature to its video generation model. This allows users to transform a single image into dynamic characters with adjustable angles, poses and cinematic lighting.

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Maintaining character consistency across scenes is still one of the biggest obstacles to creating multiple scene videos with AI, so this feature will be very welcome to everyone who finds that process frustrating.