In May, OpenAI introduced, among other things, a new voice mode for its generative AI model ChatGPT. In filmed demos, users could speak to ChatGPT using natural language commands and the AI model could respond with its own voice. The original plan was to roll out the voice mode to some ChatGPT Plus users by the end of June.
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 as an alpha version to a small group of ChatGPT Plus users in late June, but we still need a month to reach our launch limit. …
— OpenAI (@OpenAI) 25 June 2024
Now, OpenAI has announced in a new message on its X account that the launch of Voice Mode will be delayed for at least another month, until the end of July. In its statement, it explained the reasons for the delay:
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 maintaining real-time response.
The current plan now calls for a small group of Plus users to be able to test voice mode in late July. OpenAI says all ChatGPT Plus subscribers will be able to use voice mode sometime in the fall.
At the Voice Mode demo in May, many people thought the voice created by OpenAI sounded a lot like actress Scarlett Johansson, who voiced the fictional AI chatbot Samantha in the 2013 film. HerA few days later, Johansson herself released a statement saying that OpenAI had tried to recruit her to have her voice digitized for the company’s voice mode, but she declined.
OpenAI has denied that the voice “Sky” used in the Voice Mode demo was based on Johansson’s voice, but the company has decided to suspend the use of this digital voice for the time being.
