The company said it needed more time to prepare the feature for an alpha rollout and wanted to ensure it could “detect and reject certain content.”
OpenAI has postponed an “enhanced speech mode” upgrade for ChatGPT, saying more time is needed to prepare the feature for launch.
Unlike ChatGPT’s current voice option, which simply reads out the chatbot’s responses, this upgrade gives ChatGPT a more human voice and the ability to respond to voice prompts in real time.
The company announced details of this voice mode feature with the GPT 4o update and planned to make the feature available to a “small group of ChatGPT Plus users” this month. However, in an update to X, OpenAI said it still needs a month to “reach our launch threshold.”
“For example, we are improving the model’s ability to detect and reject certain content,” OpenAI said. “We are also working to improve the user experience and prepare our infrastructure to scale to millions of users while maintaining real-time responses.”
OpenAI said it still plans to launch this feature as an alpha with a “small group of users” to gather feedback. The goal is for all ChatGPT Plus users to have access to this feature in the fall, but the exact timeline will vary.
“We are also working on rolling out the new video and screen sharing features we demoed separately and will keep you updated on the schedule,” OpenAI said.
The company claims that upgrading to Advanced Voice Mode will enable ChatGPT to understand and respond to “emotions and nonverbal cues” to give users more natural conversations with the AI.
Some readers may think of the movie “Her” when imagining this type of feature. That’s obviously what OpenAI was thinking when they asked Scarlett Johansson – the voice of the AI in the film – to voice one of their upcoming ChatGPT voices last year, Johansson said.
She declined the offer, but when the voice feature was introduced last month, many viewers thought one of the voices – Sky – sounded a lot like Johansson. Shortly after the voices were introduced, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman posted the word “her” on X – presumably a reference to the film he had previously said was his favorite.
After OpenAI was criticized for the similarity and Johansson potentially filed a lawsuit, the company withdrew the Sky voice, stating that AI voices should not intentionally mimic a celebrity’s distinctive voice.
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