After securing a substantial $6.6 billion in funding, OpenAI launched a beta version of its latest collaborative tool for ChatGPT, named Canvas, on Thursday.
Canvas is described as a groundbreaking development by Karina Nguyen, the lead researcher behind the project. In a post on X (formerly known as Twitter), she stated: “We are fundamentally changing the way people can collaborate with ChatGPT since its inception two years ago.” This new tool is aimed at enhancing collaboration on writing and coding endeavors, going well beyond basic conversational interactions.
For the first time, we are fundamentally transforming how people can work with ChatGPT since it launched two years ago. We’re introducing Canvas, a new interface for writing and coding projects that transcends simple chat.
— Karina Nguyen (@karinanguyen_) October 3, 2024
Canvas functions similarly to Claude’s Artifacts window, presenting users with a live view of the chatbot’s output in a separate workspace, outside the main chat interface. The feature recognizes when it could enhance the user’s experience and launches automatically to assist.
Users can offer feedback directly on the generated content, focusing on specific lines or the entire piece. The tool allows for highlighting and editing text or code, enabling ChatGPT to adapt its responses based on user suggestions. Additionally, Canvas will permit users to direct ChatGPT to research specific topics online and incorporate the resulting information into their ongoing projects.
This new interface will also include a shortcuts menu for frequently used tools, such as suggesting edits, modifying the output length, adjusting the reading level (from kindergarten to graduate school), debugging code, inserting emoji, and applying a “final polish” to check grammar, clarity, and consistency. For coding tasks, users will have access to shortcuts like Review Code, Add Logs, Add Comments, Fix Bugs, and Port to a Language, which can translate code among various programming languages including JavaScript, TypeScript, Python, Java, C++, and PHP.
We’re launching an early version of Canvas—an innovative way to engage with ChatGPT on writing and coding projects beyond simple chat. Starting today, Plus and Team subscribers can access it by selecting “GPT-4o with Canvas” in the model options. https://t.co/GoGZiRzCsB
— OpenAI (@OpenAI) October 3, 2024
Currently in beta, Canvas is available only to Plus and Team subscribers, with no set date for when it will be accessible to Enterprise or free-tier users.
