In May, when OpenAI first demoed a far more realistic, nearly-real-time conversational experience for its chatbot platform ChatGPT, called Voice Mode, the company said that the feature would roll out to paying ChatGPT customers within a few weeks.
Months later, OpenAI says that it needs more time.
In a post on OpenAI’s official Discord server, OpenAI said that it had planned to start rolling out Voice Mode in alpha to a small group of ChatGPT Plus users in late June, but that it’s been forced to postpone the launch to July by lingering technical issues.
“For example, we’re improving the model’s ability to detect and refuse certain content,” OpenAI wrote. “We’re also working on improving the user experience and preparing our infrastructure to scale to millions while maintaining real-time responses. As part of our iterative deployment strategy, we’ll start the alpha with a small group of users to gather feedback and expand based on what we learn.”
Voice Mode might not launch for all ChatGPT Plus users until the fall, OpenAI says, depending on whether it meets certain safety and reliability checks. The delay won’t affect the rollout of the new video and screen sharing capabilities demoed separately during OpenAI’s spring press event, however, the company clarified.
“ChatGPT’s advanced Voice Mode can understand and respond with emotions and non-verbal cues, moving us closer to real-time, natural conversations with AI,” OpenAI wrote. “Our mission is to bring these new experiences to you thoughtfully.”
OpenAI’s Voice Mode generated quite a bit of controversy for the default voice’s eerie similarity to actor Scarlett Johansson’s. Johansson later released a statement saying that she hired legal counsel to inquire about the voice and get exact details about how it was developed — and that she’d refused repeated entreaties from OpenAI to license her voice for ChatGPT.
OpenAI, while denying that it used Johansson’s voice without permission or a soundalike, later removed the offending voice.