OpenAI Launches Advanced Voice Assistant After Addressing Safety Concerns

OpenAI rolls out voice assistant after delay to address safety issues

(Bloomberg) -- OpenAI is rolling out a much-anticipated voice assistant for ChatGPT to a limited number of users after previously delaying the release to work through potential safety issues. The artificial intelligence startup said it would make the voice feature available to a small group of paid ChatGPT Plus customers starting on Tuesday. The product will offer four preset voices, but won't be able to impersonate how other people speak, according to the company. OpenAI also said it has added new filters to ensure the software can spot and refuse some requests to generate music or other forms of copyrighted audio.The voice option was a centerpiece of OpenAI's product launch event in May for GPT-4o, an updated version of its GPT-4 model that is better at handling text, audio and images in real time. The startup had introduced a more limited option for ChatGPT to talk back to users last year, but the new feature promised to be faster and pair with powerful image-recognition capabilities to turn the chatbot into a far more useful and dynamic conversational partner. OpenAI previously said that it had intended to roll out the voice assistant to a small group of paid ChatGPT Plus subscribers in late June, but decided it needed another month to "reach our bar to launch." The company said it was working on the software's ability to spot and refuse to respond to certain types of content, and ensure it could effectively process requests from millions of users. "By launching gradually, we can closely monitor usage and continuously improve the model's capabilities and safety based on real-world feedback," the company said in a statement Tuesday. In the statement, OpenAI reiterated its plan to roll out the voice feature to all of its paid ChatGPT Plus subscribers in the fall. The company also said it is still working on video and screen-sharing features that were demonstrated during the May event. Those features don't yet have a launch date. As a result, the voice feature will have a more limited list of capabilities to start. For example, the chatbot won't be able to access a computer-vision feature that would let it offer spoken feedback on a person's dance moves simply by using their smartphone's camera.

OpenAI Rolls Out Voice Assistant After Delay to Address Safety Issues

OpenAI is rolling out a much-anticipated voice assistant for ChatGPT to a limited number of users after previously delaying the release to work through potential safety issues. The artificial intelligence startup said it would make the voice feature available to a small group of paid ChatGPT Plus customers starting on Tuesday. The product will offer four preset voices, but won't be able to impersonate how other people speak, according to the company. OpenAI also said it has added new filters to ensure the software can spot and refuse some requests to generate music or other forms of copyrighted audio. The voice option was a centerpiece of OpenAI's product launch event in May for GPT-4o, an updated version of its GPT-4 model that is better at handling text, audio and images in real time. The startup had introduced a more limited option for ChatGPT to talk back to users last year, but the new feature promised to be faster and pair with powerful image-recognition capabilities to turn the chatbot into a far more useful and dynamic conversational partner. OpenAI previously said that it had intended to roll out the voice assistant to a small group of paid ChatGPT Plus subscribers in late June, but decided it needed another month to "reach our bar to launch." The company said it was working on the software's ability to spot and refuse to respond to certain types of content, and ensure it could effectively process requests from millions of users. "By launching gradually, we can closely monitor usage and continuously improve the model's capabilities and safety based on real-world feedback," the company said in a statement Tuesday.

OpenAI rolls out voice mode after delaying it for safety reasons

Sorry, a summary is not available for this article at this time. Please try again later. SAN FRANCISCO -- ChatGPT maker OpenAI said Tuesday it would begin rolling out its new voice mode to customers, a month after delaying the launch to do more safety testing on the tool. OpenAI in May showed off the conversational voice mode, which can detect different tones of voice and respond to being interrupted, much like a human. But some researchers quickly criticized the company for showing off an artificial intelligence product that hewed to sexist stereotypes about female assistants being flirty and compliant. Actor Scarlett Johansson alleged the company had copied her voice from the movie "Her," in which an AI bot develops a romantic relationship with a man. OpenAI's records show it worked with a completely different actor, and it pulled the voice, called Sky, from its product. In June, it said it would delay the launch of voice mode to conduct more safety testing. The new voice mode launching Tuesday does not include the Sky voice, an OpenAI spokesperson confirmed. Tech companies have worked to make conversational AI chatbots for years. Amazon's Alexa and Apple's Siri are ubiquitous and used by millions of people to set timers and look up the weather but aren't capable enough for complex tasks. Now, OpenAI, Google, Microsoft, Apple and a host of other tech companies are trying to use breakthroughs in generative AI to finally build the kind of assistant that has been a fixture of science fiction for decades. OpenAI's fans and customers have clamored for the voice mode, with some complaining online when the company delayed the launch in June. The new feature will be available to a small number of users at first, and the company will gradually open it up to all of OpenAI's paying customers by the fall. Previous versions of ChatGPT have had the ability to listen to spoken questions and respond with audio by transcribing the questions into text, running them through its AI algorithm, and then reading its text response out loud. But the new voice features are built on OpenAI's latest AI model, which directly processes audio without needing to convert it to text first. That allows the bot to listen to multiple voices at once and determine a person's tone of voice, responding differently based on what it thinks the person's emotions are. That opens up a whole new set of questions, such as how cultural differences come into play, or whether people might develop relationships with bots that are trained to respond to their emotions in specific ways. OpenAI said it worked with people representing 45 languages and 29 "geographies" to improve the AI model's capabilities. Only four unique voices will be available to use, and the tool will block attempts to get the bot to generate voices of real people, the company said.

OpenAI starts roll-out of advanced voice mode to some ChatGPT Plus users

OpenAI said in June it was improving the model's ability to detect and refuse certain content, while working on bettering the user experience and preparing its infrastructure to scale the model. The company has been working to introduce new generative AI products, as it seeks to maintain its edge in the booming AI race with businesses rushing to adopt the technology. (Reporting by Arsheeya Bajwa in Bengaluru; Editing by Devika Syamnath)

OpenAI releases realistic voice assistant to select subscribers: report

Microsoft-backed (NASDAQ:MSFT) OpenAI released it realistic voice assistant for ChatGPT to a limited number of Plus subscribers today, according to reports. The Advanced Voice Mode will be available to all ChatGPT Plus subscribers this fall, according to Bloomberg. When OpenAI first revealed this new feature back in May, it drew backlash after one of the voices sounded strikingly similar to Scarlett Johansson. OpenAI paused the program as it worked out some kinks. The latest version offers four preset voices. OpenAI said it has introduced safeguards to prevent users from utilizing the tech to impersonate voices or generate copyrighted audio material, according to the report. "By launching gradually, we can closely monitor usage and continuously improve the model's capabilities and safety based on real-world feedback," OpenAI said in a statement to Bloomberg. OpenAI continues to work on video and screen sharing features associated with Advanced Voice Mode, but has not indicated a release date. Last week, OpenAI announced it had started testing its SearchGPT Prototype. More on Microsoft Microsoft Should Beat Q4 Earnings, Staying Pricey Microsoft: Satya Nadella's Chance To Reignite AI Enthusiasm Approaches Microsoft Q4 Preview: Anticipate Strong Cloud Growth Microsoft stock dips amid service outage led by "unexpected usage spike" OpenAI's SearchGPT likely to remain an 'overhang' on Google in near-term: Wedbush