In May, OpenAI introduced an impressively realistic, nearly real-time “advanced voice mode” for its AI-powered chatbot platform, ChatGPT, with plans to make it available to paying users within a few weeks. However, months later, OpenAI has announced that it needs more time to roll out the feature.

In a post on OpenAI’s official Discord server, the company explained that it initially planned to start rolling out the advanced Voice Mode in alpha to a small group of ChatGPT Plus users in late June. However, due to lingering issues, the launch has been postponed to sometime in July.

“For example, we’re improving the model’s ability to detect and refuse certain content,” OpenAI stated. “We’re also working on enhancing 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.”

OpenAI indicated that the advanced Voice Mode might not be available to all ChatGPT Plus customers until the fall, depending on its success in meeting internal safety and reliability checks. However, this delay will not affect the rollout of the new video and screen-sharing capabilities demonstrated separately during OpenAI’s spring press event.

These new features include solving math problems from pictures and explaining various settings menus on devices. They are designed to work across ChatGPT on both smartphones and desktop clients, such as the macOS app, which became available to all ChatGPT users earlier today.

“ChatGPT’s advanced Voice Mode can understand and respond with emotions and nonverbal cues, moving us closer to real-time, natural conversations with AI,” OpenAI wrote. “Our mission is to bring these new experiences to you thoughtfully.”

At the launch event, OpenAI employees demonstrated ChatGPT responding almost instantly to requests, such as solving a math problem presented on a piece of paper in front of a researcher’s smartphone camera.

The advanced Voice Mode also generated controversy due to the default “Sky” voice’s resemblance to actress Scarlett Johansson’s voice. Johansson later released a statement indicating that she had hired legal counsel to inquire about the voice and get exact details on how it was developed. She also mentioned that she had declined repeated requests from OpenAI to license her voice for ChatGPT.

In response, OpenAI denied using Johansson’s voice without permission or employing a soundalike. However, the company later removed the controversial voice.

Source: Techcrunch