In May, OpenAI revealed, among other things, a new Voice Mode for its ChatGPT generative AI model. In filmed demos, users were able to speak with ChatGPT using natural voice commands, and the AI model was able to respond with its own voice. The original plan was to launch Voice Mode for some ChatGPT Plus users by the end of June.
We're sharing an update on the advanced Voice Mode we demoed during our Spring Update, which we remain very excited about:
— OpenAI (@OpenAI) June 25, 2024
We had planned to start rolling this out in alpha to a small group of ChatGPT Plus users in late June, but need one more month to reach our bar to launch.…
Now, in a new message on its X account, OpenAI has revealed it is delaying the Voice Mode launch for at least another month, until late July. In its statement, it explained the reasons for the delay:
For example, we’re improving the model’s ability to detect and refuse certain content. We’re also working on improving the user experience and preparing our infrastructure to scale to millions while maintaining real-time responses.
The current plan now is to let a small group of Plus users test out Voice Mode in late July. OpenAI says all subscribers for ChatGPT Plus will be able to use Voice Mode sometime in the fall.
The Voice Mode demo back in May got a lot of people thinking the voice that was created by OpenAI sounded a lot like actor Scarlett Johansson. who voiced a fictional AI chatbot, Samantha, in the 2013 movie Her. A few days later, Johansson herself posted a statement, saying 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 "Sky" voice used in the Voice Mode demo was patterned after Johansson's voice. However, it still decided to pause the use of that digital voice for now.
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