ChatGPT maker OpenAI has launched a new flagship AI model that can teach maths, sing and is even a little flirty.

Called GPT-4o, the model – which is faster and free for all users – was unveiled to a cheering crowd in OpenAI’s offices by chief technology officer Mira Murati.

In the address, which was livestreamed online, Ms Murati said GPT-4o was “shifting the paradigm”.

“We’re looking at the future of interaction between ourselves and the machines,” she said.

As part of the launch, the company showed the enhanced chatbot helping to teach maths, engage in casual conversations with a near-human response time and even harmonise and sing with a second device also running ChatGPT.

The new AI also seemed to be capable of flirting, telling an OpenAI employee “oh stop, you’re making me blush” after he complimented it.

The firm said the new model can better understand any input combination of audio, text and images, and respond in a similar fashion, while also responding faster and in a more human way.

OpenAI said it was making the new, enhanced model available to all ChatGPT users, even those who do not have a paid subscription with the firm, as part of its “mission” to ensure AI technology was “accessible and beneficial to everyone”.

The new model is “much better” than any existing model at understanding and discussing images users share, OpenAI said.

In a blog post, OpenAI’s chief executive Sam Altman said ChatGPT-4o was “the best computer interface I’ve ever used”.

“It feels like AI from the movies and it’s still a bit surprising to me that it’s real,” he said.

“Getting to human-level response times and expressiveness turns out to be a big change.”

At a time when the scrutiny around AI tools continues to grow, OpenAI said the new model had been extensively safety tested, using independent experts, and has “safety built in by design”.

The timing of the unveiling also appeared to be a shot across the bow of OpenAI’s rivals – coming the day before tech giant Google is expected to discuss its own plans for generative AI when it opens its annual developer conference, Google I/O, on Tuesday evening.