OpenAI starts rolling out advanced Voice Mode to ChatGPT Plus users

OpenAI has announced that it is starting to roll out its advanced Voice Mode to a select group of ChatGPT Plus users. 

According to the company, this new mode “offers more natural, real-time conversations, allows you to interrupt anytime, and senses and responds to your emotions.”

Advanced Voice Mode was tested by over 100 external red teamers across 45 languages. 

It was first announced in May, and since then OpenAI has been working on reinforcing the safety and quality of voice conversations. 

When it was first announced, the company received backlash because one of the voices, named Sky, sounded very similar to Scarlett Johansson. The company’s CEO Sam Altman had previously reached out to Johansson asking if she would provide her voice (as a nod to the movie Her), but she said no. When the voice came out, however, it had a clear resemblance, and her legal team started demanding OpenAI reveal how the voice was developed. 

“When I heard the released demo, I was shocked, angered and in disbelief that Mr. Altman would pursue a voice that sounded so eerily similar to mine that my closest friends and news outlets could not tell the difference,” Johansson said in a statement at the time. “Mr. Altman even insinuated that the similarity was intentional, tweeting a single word, ‘her’ — a reference to the film in which I voiced a chat system, Samantha, who forms an intimate relationship with a human.”

Following the backlash, OpenAI took down the voice, which was one of five voice options, the others being Breeze, Cove, Ember, and Juniper. OpenAI says that it partnered with voice actors in 2023 to record the voices, and that the voice actress for Sky was already selected when Altman reached out to Johansson, and that she would have been recording a sixth voice had she agreed. 

The actors were selected on a number of criteria, including actors who were from diverse backgrounds or multilingual, and a voice that feels timeless, sounds approachable, and is easy to listen to. 

OpenAI expects that advanced Voice Mode will become available to all ChatGPT Plus users by the fall. More information on its training, safety, and usage can be found in the company’s FAQ page.

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