- OpenAI’s voice assistant for ChatGPT is being rolled out to paid users, offering spoken responses with five new voice options.
- The feature, which was delayed due to security concerns, is now available but lacks some of the features originally promised, such as vision-based feedback.
OUR TAKE
OpenAI has rolled out a new voice assistant feature to all paid ChatGPT users, building on the advanced voice mode it first teased earlier in the year. The voice assistant is now available to ChatGPT Plus and ChatGPT Team subscribers. It makes the AI more interactive, but it doesn’t have all the original features, like computer-vision feedback. There are five new voice options, and OpenAI has made sure the tool doesn’t imitate real people’s voices.
–Heidi Luo, BTW reporter
What happened
OpenAI has rolled out its new voice assistant feature to all paid users of ChatGPT, marking a significant expansion of its AI capabilities. Originally announced in May 2024, the voice assistant allows users to interact with the AI using spoken prompts and responses.
Initially delayed due to security concerns, the feature is now available to subscribers of the ChatGPT Plus and Team services, with wider access for Enterprise and Edu users expected next week.
The new voice mode offers nine voices, including recently added options such as “arbor” and “maple”, but some anticipated features, such as providing spoken feedback based on visual input, are still missing. OpenAI has implemented security filters to prevent the voice assistant from being misused to generate copyrighted or impersonated audio.
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Why it’s important
This expansion of OpenAI’s ChatGPT voice assistant reflects the growing push towards more human-like AI interactions, making the AI assistant more accessible and versatile.
By introducing voice commands, OpenAI is positioning itself to compete more directly with other AI-powered assistants, such as Apple’s Siri or Amazon’s Alexa.
The security measures will ensure that the tool avoids ethical pitfalls, such as creating unauthorised voice imitations. The development highlights OpenAI’s cautious but progressive approach to AI, balancing innovation with responsibility to prevent misuse.
The newly launched voice assistant falls short of some previously promised features, such as the ability to analyse a user’s movements through their smartphone camera and provide spoken feedback.
Despite this, OpenAI has expanded its offering by introducing five additional voices, bringing the total to nine. These new voices have unique, nature-inspired names such as Arbor, Spruce and Maple.
