Jan 14 (Reuters) - Generative artificial intelligence

bellwether OpenAI said on Tuesday that it is introducing a beta

feature called Tasks to ChatGPT, signaling the company's foray

into the virtual assistant space, competing with Apple's ( AAPL )

Siri and Amazon's ( AMZN ) Alexa.

Tasks will enable ChatGPT users to request tasks to be

performed at a future time, including one-time reminders such as

concert ticket sales or recurring actions like weekly news

briefings or daily weather updates.

Based on user chats, ChatGPT may also suggest tasks,

although users will have the option to accept or decline them.

The release of ChatGPT in late 2022 sparked a frenzy of

investment in AI firms, prompting Amazon ( AMZN ) to update its

decade-old, money-losing Alexa service with GenAI capabilities

to remain competitive with GenAI-powered chatbots.

In December last year, Amazon ( AMZN ) CEO Andy Jassy said that the

revamped version of Alexa-which will take actions for users

without prompting-is slated to be released in the "coming

months".

Meanwhile, Apple ( AAPL ) has

integrated

its "Apple Intelligence" technology into Siri, leveraging

ChatGPT's expertise and seeking permission from users before

querying the OpenAI service as part of Apple's ( AAPL ) tie-up with the

Microsoft ( MSFT )-backed startup.

OpenAI said that it will start rolling out the beta to

Plus, Team, and Pro users globally over the next few days,

beginning with the web platform.