Welcome to The Daily AI Briefing, your daily dose of AI news. I'm Marc, and here are today's headlines. Today we're covering major developments from across the AI landscape: OpenAI's expansion into voice services with a new phone number for ChatGPT, GitHub's introduction of a free Copilot tier, Perplexity AI's massive funding round, and the democratization of ChatGPT's web search capabilities. Let's dive into these stories. First up, OpenAI is making ChatGPT more accessible than ever with a new phone service. By dialing 1-800-CHATGPT, US users can now have voice conversations with ChatGPT, getting 15 minutes of free calling time monthly. What's particularly interesting is that this works on any phone, from the latest smartphone to vintage rotary devices. Additionally, international users can now access ChatGPT through WhatsApp, though this version runs on a lighter model with daily usage limits. In developer news, GitHub has made waves by introducing a free tier of its AI coding assistant, Copilot. This offering includes 2,000 monthly code completions and 50 chat messages, powered by either Anthropic's Claude 3.5 Sonnet or OpenAI's GPT-4o models. The move comes as GitHub celebrates reaching 150 million developers, showing remarkable growth from 100 million in early 2023. Perplexity AI has secured a massive $500 million funding round, sending its valuation soaring to $9 billion. The AI search startup has impressed investors with its growth to over 15 million active users since launching in 2022. They've been busy adding features like one-click shopping and financial analysis, while also securing revenue-sharing deals with major publishers and acquiring Carbon for direct integration with popular productivity tools. In a significant democratization move, OpenAI has made its web search tool available to all ChatGPT users, not just premium subscribers. The tool, powered by a fine-tuned GPT-4o model, provides real-time updates on sports, news, and stock quotes. While this is great news for users, publishers are concerned about potential traffic reductions of up to 25%. As we wrap up today's briefing, it's clear that AI accessibility and integration are the key themes, from phone access to free developer tools and enhanced search capabilities. The industry continues to evolve rapidly, with both established players and startups making significant moves to expand their reach and capabilities. This has been The Daily AI Briefing. Join us tomorrow for more updates from the world of artificial intelligence. I'm Marc, signing off.