OpenAI delays ChatGPT’s new voice mode

When OpenAI first demonstrated a far more realistic, near-real-time conversational experience for its AI-powered chatbot platform ChatGPT called “Advanced Voice Mode” in May, the company announced that the feature would be available to paying ChatGPT users within weeks.

Months later, OpenAI says it needs more time.

In a post on OpenAI’s official Discord server, OpenAI explains that it had planned to make the enhanced voice mode available in alpha to a small group of ChatGPT Plus users in late June, but that ongoing technical issues have led to the rollout being delayed until July.

“For example, we are improving the model’s ability to detect and reject certain content,” OpenAI writes. “We are also working to improve the user experience and prepare our infrastructure to scale to millions of users while maintaining real-time responses. As part of our iterative deployment strategy, we will launch the alpha version with a small group of users to collect feedback and expand based on our learnings.”

OpenAI said the enhanced voice mode may not roll out to all ChatGPT Plus customers until fall, depending on whether it passes certain internal security and reliability checks. However, the delay will not impact the rollout of the new video and screen sharing features that were demoed separately during OpenAI’s spring press event, the company said.

“ChatGPT’s enhanced voice mode can understand and respond to emotions and nonverbal cues, bringing us closer to real-time conversations with artificial intelligence,” OpenAI writes. “Our mission is to bring these new experiences to you with thought.”

OpenAI’s enhanced voice mode caused quite a bit of controversy due to the default voice’s similarity to that of actress Scarlett Johansson. Johansson later released a statement saying she had hired legal counsel to research the voice and get accurate details about its development – and she had refused repeated requests from OpenAI to license her voice for ChatGPT.

While OpenAI denied using Johansson’s voice without permission or impersonation, it later removed the offending voice.