OpenAI took to Twitter on Tuesday to announce the rollout of its Advanced Voice feature alongside five new voices for its conversational AI. This feature will be available to Plus and Teams subscribers throughout the week, with Enterprise and Edu users set to gain access next week.
Advanced Voice is rolling out to all Plus and Team users in the ChatGPT app over the course of the week.
While you’ve been patiently waiting, we’ve added Custom Instructions, Memory, five new voices, and improved accents.
It can also say “Sorry I’m late” in over 50 languages. pic.twitter.com/APOqqhXtDg
— OpenAI (@OpenAI) September 24, 2024
The Advanced Voice feature operates on the GPT-4o model, allowing users to communicate with the chatbot using voice rather than typing. This capability was first introduced during OpenAI’s Spring Update event and underwent beta testing in July with a limited number of ChatGPT Plus subscribers. Now, it’s available to all paying subscribers for experimentation.
In addition to Advanced Voice, OpenAI has introduced five new voices for the chatbot: Arbor, Maple, Sol, Spruce, and Vale, which can be accessed in both Standard and Advanced Voice modes. These join the existing voices—Breeze, Juniper, Cove, and Ember. However, OpenAI noted that video and screen sharing will not be available in Advanced Voice mode just yet, with plans to include those features in future updates.
Furthermore, OpenAI is integrating two tools to enhance Advanced Voice capabilities, aligning them more closely with its text-based experience: memory and custom instructions. Initially, Advanced Voice could only reference the current chat’s information. With the memory feature, the AI will be able to retrieve information from past conversations, reducing the need for users to repeat themselves. On the other hand, custom instructions allow users to set parameters for the model’s responses, such as specifying that coding responses be given in Python.
Subscribers to Plus and Teams will receive an in-app notification alerting them when the feature is activated on their account. However, it’s important to note that Advanced Voice is not yet available in the EU, the U.K., Switzerland, Iceland, Norway, or Liechtenstein.
OpenAI is not the only tech company enabling direct voice interactions with AI. This announcement from OpenAI follows closely on the heels of Google’s launch of its Gemini Live to all users, including those on the free tier.
