OpenAI Expands ChatGPT Advanced Voice Mode to European Users

No More VPNs: OpenAI Rolls Out Advanced Voice Mode to EU Users

(Credit: MateuszSlodkowski/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images) When ChatGPT released Advanced Voice mode in late September, Europe was left out of the excitement for regulatory reasons, but it appears the region block has now been lifted. OpenAI quietly confirmed the rollout on Tuesday when replying to a tweet asking for updates about the EU. "Well, yes," the company said. "All Plus users in the EU, Switzerland, Iceland, Norway, and Liechtenstein now have access to Advanced Voice." Previously, European users could skirt the region block by using a VPN, TechRadar notes. "I got a German iPhone, German as main language, German provider and I am in Germany. I never received any information about the advanced voice feature and today I just established a VPN connection to a random US-server and after an hour I restarted the app and got the new feature," a Redditor wrote last month. Advanced Voice launched for select Plus subscribers in July and promises to provide a natural-sounding back-and-forth with the AI. In a May demo with OpenAI employees, it easily understood what they asked and responded in real-time with accurate, useful information, even if it was interrupted or the employee adjusted their query mid-sentence. It features nine voices, but don't look for Sky, which drew the ire of Scarlett Johansson earlier this year and has since been disabled. Advanced Voice rolled out in the UK last month, but OpenAI and other tech firms have been slower to unleash AI products in the EU, where regulations are more stringent. In August, OpenAI told Euronews Next that "Europe is a key region for us, and we're committed to working with European Institutions to offer our products here." Access to Advanced Voice requires a ChatGPT Plus subscription, although free users get 10 minutes of access per month to test it out.

OpenAI's advanced voice mode is now available in Europe

The ChatGPT maker ran into controversy after one of its voices resembled the voice of actor Scarlett Johansson in the 2013 film "Her." ChatGPT maker OpenAI said on Tuesday that its Advanced Voice was available in Europe, following a delay in the launch that may have been due to regulatory rules on the continent. OpenAI announced the Advanced Voice Mode in May, which allows users to interact with the large language model (LLM) with their voices, meaning you can talk to ChatGPT using your mobile phone, laptop, or PC's microphone. The voice mode was rolled out in the United Kingdom earlier this month but did not come to the European continent until now, which could be due to concerns about Europe's General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), which requires some products to be reviewed by the EU data commissioner before launch. "Europe is a key region for us and we're committed to working with European Institutions to offer our products here," an OpenAI spokesperson told Euronews Next earlier this month. OpenAI confirmed it was bringing the tool to Europe in response to a post on the social media platform X, which asked whether it would come to Europe. "Well yes. All Plus users in the EU, Switzerland, Iceland, Norway, and Liechtenstein now have access to Advanced Voice," OpenAI said in a post. The Advanced Voice started rolling out to OpenAI Plus subscribers last night but is not yet available for those using the free account. Advanced Voice hit the headlines when it was announced earlier this year as a voice called Sky resembled that of actor Scarlett Johansson in the 2013 film "Her". Legal representatives of Johansson sent OpenAI letters which claimed the company did not have the right to use the voice. OpenAI has since temporarily paused the voice of Sky. Users can ask the AI to change accents, for example, to a southern accent, if they do not like what they are hearing. It is also interactive so that you can tell it to speed or slow down and will listen if you interrupt it.

OpenAI's Advanced Voice Finally Rolls Out in EU After Regulatory Roadblocks

A month after its initial rollout, OpenAI has launched ChatGPT Advanced Voice for EU users. While the company never confirmed the reason for the delayed European launch, several of its peers have acknowledged holding back AI features in the EU over regulatory concerns. EU Users Gain Access to ChatGPT Advanced Voice Leveraging advanced speech synthesis and natural language understanding, ChatGPT Advanced Voice lets users engage in more natural and human-like voice interactions with ChatGPT. On Oct. 22, OpenAI announced the rollout, revealing that ChatGPT Plus users in the EU, Switzerland, Iceland, Norway, and Liechtenstein now have access to the feature. But why was OpenAI's EU launch delayed in the first place? AI Compliance Concerns Following Advanced Voice's initial unavailability in the EU, there was speculation that compliance concerns had stalled its release in the region. OpenAI is not the first company to hold back AI features from the EU market. Citing concerns over the bloc's Digital Markets Act (DMA), Apple initially postponed the rollout of Apple Intelligence for EU users. Likewise, citing regulatory uncertainty, Meta has opted not to release Meta AI and a multimodal version of its LLaMA model in the EU. In an open letter recently penned by Meta's CEO, Mark Zuckerberg argued that overzealous interpretations of the EU's General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) risked inhibiting AI innovation in the region. Why Did OpenAI Delay Rollout? Some observers speculated that ChatGPT Advanced Voice's ability to understand emotional context could violate the AI Act's restrictions on AI-based emotion recognition systems. However, given that the platform is now live for all European users, it is more likely that OpenAI simply needed additional time to ensure it complied with existing EU regulations like the DMA and GDPR.