ChatGPT’s updated voice mode is delayed

Following the announcement in May, OpenAI has confirmed that the improved voice mode in ChatGPT is delayed.

The most impressive thing about OpenAI’s demo of GPT-4o, which stole the show at Google’s AI-focused I/O presentation a day later, was the improved speech mode. The conversational speech mode enabled quick responses and extremely natural interactions.

But now it is delayed a little.

OpenAI says in a post on Twitter/X that the improved voice mode will be delayed by at least a month. This only applies to the “small” alpha group of ChatGPT Plus subscribers, who should have access to the upgrade by the end of this month.

The full version of ChatGPT’s “enhanced” voice mode will be available this fall, OpenAI says.

We’re releasing an update to the enhanced voice mode that we demonstrated during our Spring Update and that we continue to be very excited about:

We had planned to roll this out in alpha to a small group of ChatGPT Plus users in late June, but we still need a month to reach our launch threshold. For example, we are improving the model’s ability to detect and reject certain content. We are also working to improve the user experience and prepare our infrastructure to scale to millions of users while still ensuring real-time responses.

As part of our iterative deployment strategy, we will launch the alpha with a small group of users to gather feedback and expand based on what we learn. We plan for all Plus users to have access in the fall. Exact timelines will depend on whether we maintain our high security and reliability standards. We’re also working on rolling out the new video and screen sharing features we demoed separately and will keep you updated on that timeline.

ChatGPT’s advanced voice mode can understand and respond to emotions and non-verbal cues, bringing us closer to real-time conversations powered by artificial intelligence. Our mission is to bring these new experiences to you with thoughtfulness.

OpenAI has not indicated whether the “Sky” voice will return with this upgrade after it was removed last month. OpenAI disabled the voice because it sounded too much like Scarlett Johansson after the actress refused to lend her voice to ChatGPT.

However, ChatGPT’s new Mac app is now available to all users.

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