ChatGPT Gets a Major Upgrade with New Voice Features

This update is being gradually rolled out to users subscribed to the Plus and Team plans within this week.

The announcement was made by OpenAI through a post on X on September 24.

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After being postponed earlier this year, the new feature enables the ChatGPT-4o model to talk in more than 50 languages. This advancement enables smoother conversations between users and the AI, as it now has improved conversational speed and accents in certain languages.

However, OpenAI acknowledged that the feature may still face challenges in certain settings. Specifically, environments like speakerphones may introduce background noise that disrupts the AI's responses.

As part of this update, OpenAI introduced five new voice options—Arbor, Maple, SXol, Spruce, and Vale—adding to the existing choices of Breeze, Cove, Ember, and Juniper. These voices were designed to provide a more natural feel, allowing users to engage in fluid, uninterrupted conversations, even switching topics or interjecting as needed.

The launch of these new voices wasn't without controversy. Some users took to X to express frustration, particularly over the absence of the Sky voice model, which was originally planned but later canceled.

The voice generated a stir after actress Scarlett Johansson revealed that she was approached by OpenAI CEO Sam Altman in 2023 to lend her voice to ChatGPT. Although she declined, the Sky voice was very similar to hers, which caused legal tensions.

Altman eventually withdrew the voice model, asserting that the resemblance was purely coincidental, though he cryptically referenced the 2013 film Her, in which Johansson played the voice of an AI.

Even without the Sky model, OpenAI continues to develop its voice functionality, promising more updates in the near future to enhance the ChatGPT user experience.

Gode S. , Web3 Market Analyst

Gode is a Web3 Market Analyst who researches the most important industry events and interprets how they affect the wider Web3 space. Her formal education in media culture & digital rhetoric allows her to employ a methodical approach to evaluating critical Web3 news data, including large-scale events and the wider social sentiment within the ecosystem.
Gode is a mutilingual professional, having studied in multiple universities all across Europe. This allows her to have a one-of-a-kind opportunity to analyze Web3 social sentiments spanning different cultures and languages and, in turn, develop a much deeper understanding of how the Web3 space is growing within different communities. With the rest of her team, Gode works to identify crucial crypto news patterns and provide unbiased and data-driven information.
Gode’s passions include working and communicating with people, and when she’s not researching Web3 news, she spends her time traveling and watching true crime documentaries.

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