OpenAI Spreads Holiday Cheer with ChatGPT's New Santa Mode

Ho ho ho! ChatGPT rolls out a Santa voice for Christmas season

The AI company Open AI announced last week that it would release something new every day for 12 days, and yesterday's reveal was a new voice for ChatGPT. The chatbot can now answer your questions in the voice of Father Christmas. You can activate Santa's voice by tapping on the snowflake in the app, or you can select it from the ChatGPT voice menu. However, Santa is only making a temporary visit to the chatbot, at the end of the month the voice will be removed from Chat GPT. Open AI has also announced that you can now share your screen or video with Chat GPT in "Advanced Voice" mode. Judging by the presentation, you should now be able to simply have a video call with the chatbot. However, it seems the feature will take some time before reaching European users.

ChatGPT's new Santa Mode puts some holiday spirit in AI

OpenAI rounded out day six of the 12 Days of OpenAI with some seasonal magic in ChatGPT's new Santa Mode. After showing off ChatGPT's new ability to see the world around you in real-time through your smartphone's video camera, OpenAI CPO Kevin Weil and his fellow presenters shared the news of their jolly AI elf or rather a voice for ChatGPT that mimics a version of Santa's voice along the lines of most Hollywood depictions of Saint Nick for the last century. The addition to OpenAI's Advanced Voice Mode is described as "merry and bright," which seems about right. It's not quite a phone call with Santa, but OpenAI clearly wants to bring a little North Pole magic to the AI chatbot. Better yet, Santa Mode is available to everyone using ChatGPT on mobile, web, or desktop apps for MacOS and Windows. To start Santa Mode, just look for the snowflake icon next to the ChatGPT prompt bar, give it a tap, and virtual Santa's voice will be there to make the season a little brighter without needing to untangle long strings of lights first. Combined with the new video-sharing feature, you could show off your Christmas sweater, ask for help with holiday baking, or even puzzle out your kid's messily handwritten wish list. Santa Mode doesn't change what ChatGPT can do, but there's something nice about pointing your phone at your messy gingerbread house and hearing Santa's voice telling you tips on stopping it from collapsing. You might enjoy hearing him compliment your choice of Christmas Tree ornaments or perhaps spot your pet getting tangled up in the decor before it's trapped. AI with good-natured holiday cheer is a solid selling point, even if only at this time of year.

OpenAI Brings Holiday Cheer with ChatGPT's New Santa Mode

Recently, OpenAI has introduced a new update 'Santa Mode' for ChatGPT, where the bot responds in the voice of Santa Claus. This feature is part of the 12 Days of OpenAI event, a series of updates. Users can turn on Santa Mode by clicking the snowflake button next to the prompt bar at the top of ChatGPT. This mode captures the jovial characteristics associated with Santa, intended to improve the usage during the festive period. Santa Mode is incorporated into the Advanced Voice Mode, but it brings something more appropriate for the winter holidays and will certainly be liked by families with children. With the arrival of the holiday season, this feature is more engaging for the users as it brightens up the festive atmosphere while integrating AI. Another feature OpenAI unveiled in its recent product release is real-time video interpretation. This development allows ChatGPT to respond to users in real-time through live video feeds, offering the AI view of the users to respond to them. When integrated with Santa Mode, this feature can send targeted festive messages and chats, which will help make communication better and more exciting during the Christmas season. To enable the Santa Mode feature globally, OpenAI has made the feature available on its ChatGPT website and in its applications for Android and iOS devices as well as Windows and MacOS. Such a broad availability should raise an inference of spreading happiness globally with others who can use this application and experience a digital Santa Claus. To address privacy, OpenAI has changed to stop interaction in Santa Mode from being stored in the chat history, honoring user privacy. The company has been committed to making this decision, especially for a feature that is often going to be used by children and one that is important in the quest for user safety and privacy. In addition, OpenAI has temporarily reset usage limits for Advanced Voice Mode during the holiday season. This approach improves user experience and promotes inclusivity, allowing more people to interact with the AI.

You can make ChatGPT sound like Santa Claus for the holidays | TechCrunch

OpenAI is making ChatGPT sound like Santa for the holidays. The startup announced on Thursday that ChatGPT users could access a new "Santa Mode" voice for the month of December. The feature allows users to speak with ChatGPT's existing real-time voice feature, Advanced Voice Mode, but with a Christmas twist. The voice sounds, well, "merry and bright," as OpenAi described it. Think boomy, jolly -- more or less like every Santa you've ever heard. OpenAI is releasing the feature just ahead of the 2024 holiday season, a time when many families with young children will be cooped up in the house all day, and will likely use Santa Mode quite a bit. OpenAI also added visual understanding to ChatGPT on Thursday, as part of its 12 Days of OpenAI event, allowing the AI system to understand live video from your camera. That means Santa Mode will also be able to "see" your family, as well as talk to it. Santa Mode will appear as a snowflake icon in ChatGPT to the right of the prompt bar, and it should be rolling out today to all users on mobile, web, and the ChatGPT MacOS and Windows desktop apps. The company says chats with Santa won't be saved in chat history or affect memory.

OpenAI introduces "Santa Mode" to ChatGPT for ho-ho-ho voice chats

On Thursday, OpenAI announced that ChatGPT users can now talk to a simulated version of Santa Claus through the app's voice mode, using AI to bring a North Pole connection to mobile devices, desktop apps, and web browsers during the holiday season. The company added Santa's voice and personality as a preset option in ChatGPT's Advanced Voice Mode. Users can access Santa by tapping a snowflake icon next to the prompt bar or through voice settings. The feature works on iOS and Android mobile apps, chatgpt.com, and OpenAI's Windows and MacOS applications. The Santa voice option will remain available to users worldwide until early January. The conversations with Santa exist as temporary chats that won't save to chat history or affect the model's memory. OpenAI designed this limitation specifically for the holiday feature. Keep that in mind, because if you let your kids talk to Santa, the AI simulation won't remember what kids have told it during previous conversations. During a livestream for Day 6 of the company's "12 days of OpenAI" marketing event, an OpenAI employee said that the company will reset each user's Advanced Voice Mode usage limits one time as a gift, so that even if you've used up your Advanced Voice Mode time, you'll get a chance to talk to Santa.

Ho Ho Ho! ChatGPT now has a Santa mode

You'll be able to talk to digital Kris Kringle until early January. You can finally stop asking your friends to pose as Santa Claus over the phone for your children. ChatGPT can now take on that role as OpenAI rolls out a simulated version of the jolly Christmas character. OpenAI has announced that Santa's voice has been added to the list of other available presets for ChatGPT's advanced voice and standard voice modes. It can be accessed by tapping on the snowflake icon on the ChatGPT home screen or the top-right of the screen inside voice mode. This feature is available on mobile devices, the desktop app, and web browsers. However, it will only be available for a limited time and will end in early January. It looks like you won't have to worry too much about going over your daily or monthly voice limit. The company is relaxing this constraint so the first time you talk to Santa, "your advanced voice limit will reset one time." Something to keep in mind is that conversations with AI Santa are designed to be temporary. As a result, your talks with the rotund gift giver will not be saved and will not appear in your history. So if the company does this again next year, be careful that your kid doesn't ask Santa if he remembers what was said last year.

ChatGPT has a Santa voice to ring in the holiday cheer

Gemini's newest extension finally makes it a decent Google Assistant alternative Summary ChatGPT introduces a new Santa voice feature for the holiday season, adding a festive touch to responses. Advanced Voice Mode is available for Plus, Team, and Pro users; helping with tasks like decoding unfamiliar settings and languages. Chatbot plans to launch 12 new features & products in 12 days, with Gemini 2.0 by Google rivaling the growth. ✕ Remove Ads Every time I check, most popular AI chatbots have new features to check out. Most apps like Google Gemini and OpenAI's ChatGPT have been in development for a couple of years now, so developers have the bandwidth to focus on fun additions instead of just the core functionality. With the holiday season already upon us this year, ChatGPT has a fun feature the child in you might enjoy -- a new Santa voice for responses! Related ChatGPT: 8 top tips and tricks to boost your productivity Automate time-consuming tasks with ease Posts1 ChatGPT is on a bit of a roll this week, with plans to launch 12 new features or products on a livestream in each of the next 12 days. The latest one is support for a new Santa-like voice in Voice Mode where users can query the chatbot using their voice and have the response spoken aloud to them. Voice Mode is activated using the icon beside the query field. ✕ Remove Ads That said, the mic button has changed into a snowflake for this holiday season. Tapping it allows you to select a voice of your choice, and for new users, Santa is the default (via PhoneArena). The responses I got in my testing were about as helpful as regular ChatGPT ones, albeit with a healthy smattering of Santa puns and Christmas references thrown in. Granted, they make the response longer, but ChatGPT for Android has a setting to let the responses play in the background while you switch to other apps or turn your screen off. Other interesting features are coming too Hi there, Advanced Voice Mode While Santa mode is available for everyone, the paying subscribers also get access to a few cool new features. Related to the voice feature we've been discussing, there's a new Advanced Voice Mode now, which gives the AI permissions to access your screen's contents and tell you more about what's displayed. This can be super-helpful if you're venturing into an app's unfamiliar settings page, or if you need to interpret a foreign language. ✕ Remove Ads Advanced Voice Mode is reserved for Plus, Team, and Pro users, but free-tier users also get access to it for a limited time every month. We can't wait to see what else OpenAI has in store for us this week. Meanwhile, Google has unveiled Gemini 2.0 to take on other AI chatbots, and the battle continues. Lest we forget, the Santa voice option is a seasonal special, so we suggest using it as much as you can while its still here. You can enable it under Settings → Voice → Voice. ✕ Remove Ads

You Can Now Chat to Santa Using ChatGPT's Voice Mode

I Found the Ultimate Adventuring Backpack, With a Power Station Built-in With Christmas just a couple of weeks away, children (and adults) the world over are making lists of the things they want Santa to bring down their chimneys. However, ChatGPT will let you go one better, offering you the chance to speak to Santa directly. OpenAI Adds Santa to Its Advanced Voice Mode As a seasonal holiday treat, OpenAI has added Santa to ChatGPT's roster of voices. This means that now, anyone can choose to speak to Santa using ChatGPT's Advanced Voice Mode. The other voice options are all still there, but who is going to turn down the chance to speak to Santa over Vale, Spruce, Maple, and the other voices? At least while Santa is available to chat with. The option to speak to Santa should be available via a snowflake icon displayed to the right of the prompt bar. However, even if you can only see the regular Advanced Voice Mode icon, you should be able to select Santa from the list of voices that appear once tapped. Even as a grown adult, I had to try speaking to AI Santa for myself. And it's actually fantastic. There are lots of "ho-ho-hos" and that booming jolly voice we have all come to recognize as being Santa. I asked ChatGPT's version of Santa whether he was real, which got a jolly response talking up the magic of Christmas. I also, rather impertinently, asked him why he was so overweight. Which prompted a response about eating too many mince pies every Christmas Eve. It's Pretty Magical, Even for This 40-Something I have to admit, I'm very impressed by ChatGPT's Santa. It sounds like Santa, it's as jolly as Santa, and it responds to your questions exactly as you would expect. There may be one too many "ho-ho-hos" for my liking though. One slight issue is ChatGPT's terms of use requiring all users to be at least 13-years-old. Which means the core demographic of people who would get a kick out of conversing with Santa are locked out of doing so. Unless parents decide to access Santa Mode alongside their kid(s). ChatGPT's Santa voice will be available worldwide until early January. At which point, no one will care about him anyway. Still, this opens up the possibility of ChatGPT getting more fictional character voices as occasional treats throughout the year.

OpenAI introduces Santa Mode to do what o1 Couldn't

'I fully expect Santa Mode to drive more subscriptions than o1 and I'm at peace with this,' says Noam Brown, researcher at OpenAI. On the sixth day of '12 Days of OpenAI,' the OpenAI announced a major update: video and screen-sharing capabilities in ChatGPT's advanced voice mode. The feature allows users to engage in real-time visual and audio interactions with ChatGPT, making conversations more interactive and functional. Starting today, the rollout will gradually reach all users, including Plus and Pro subscribers, with full availability expected early next year for enterprise and educational plans. The announcement came after OpenAI acknowledged a brief outage the previous day, promising detailed follow-ups while swiftly resuming operations. "We know you depend on us, and we take this very seriously," said Kevin Weil, OpenAI's product lead. The newly introduced features let users share their screens and video feed while engaging in natural conversations with ChatGPT. Users can troubleshoot issues, learn new skills, or collaborate on tasks with real-time visual support. Demonstrations during the livestream included making pour-over coffee with ChatGPT providing step-by-step guidance via video. Rowan Zellers, a researcher at OpenAI, explained, "Now you can chat with ChatGPT over video and voice together in real-time." The feature also includes screen-sharing capabilities, allowing users to get instant help for tasks such as crafting responses, troubleshooting code, or reviewing presentations. Interestingly, this is quite similar to Microsoft Copilot Vision, Anthropic Computer Use, Google's Mariner. Adding a touch of holiday fun, OpenAI introduced a Santa Mode within ChatGPT. Users can now interact with Santa in real-time, asking him about his favorite reindeer, Christmas traditions, or even how to maintain a fluffy beard. The feature, accessible via a snowflake icon, resets advanced voice usage limits for the month, ensuring everyone gets a chance to experience Santa's jolly presence. During the demo, Santa quipped, "My favorite tradition is when children hang their stockings by the fireplace -- it's a moment filled with magic and anticipation." The lighthearted addition brings a festive spirit to ChatGPT's growing functionality. "I fully expect Santa Mode to drive more subscriptions than o1 and I'm at peace with this," said Noam Brown, researcher at OpenAI. That makes sense as o1 is currently priced at $200. OpenAI's announcement comes amid intense competition in the AI space. Google recently released Gemini 2, its advanced multimodal model, while Amazon launched Nova. Addressing the industry buzz, OpenAI co-founder Greg Brockman hinted at bigger updates on the horizon. "AGI is in the air," he posted cryptically, fueling speculation about upcoming releases like GPT-4.5 or GPT-5. These developments suggest that OpenAI isn't just playing catch-up -- it's setting the stage for what's next. With six more days left, the company is clearly ramping up for something significant. The addition of video and screen-sharing to advanced voice mode reflects a broader vision of making AI interactions richer and more human-like. As the race for AI dominance continues, OpenAI's ability to innovate while maintaining a festive, community-focused approach keeps it firmly in the spotlight. Whether through Santa's jolly voice or video-guided coffee tutorials, OpenAI is redefining how we interact with AI -- one update at a time.