In the midst of the recent upheaval surrounding the departure of former CEO Sam Altman, OpenAI has introduced a voice feature for ChatGPT, extending it to all users. This enhancement allows users to engage with ChatGPT using voice interactions rather than relying solely on text. OpenAI rolled out an update for both Android and iOS versions of the app to make the ChatGPT voice feature accessible to everyone.
Greg Brockman, the ex-president and co-founder of OpenAI, who recently joined Microsoft alongside Sam Altman, endorsed this development on X, stating, "ChatGPT Voice rolled out for all free users. Give it a try — totally changes the ChatGPT experience."
Currently, ChatGPT provides users with a selection of five distinct voices: Breeze, Ember, Juniper, Cove, and Sky. Users can choose their preferred voice from the speech section available in the settings menu.
While the voices in the ChatGPT app sound more human compared to other AI-driven voice assistants, such as Siri, Alexa, or Google Assistant, the free version of ChatGPT does have a significant limitation. It lacks real-time information access, preventing it from providing updates on current events and news.
It's worth noting that the free version of the ChatGPT app operates on the GPT 3.5 model, which has its limitations when compared to the more recent GPT-4 Turbo. The latter has been made available for GPT Plus subscribers, a subscription service priced at $20 per month.
However, OpenAI has temporarily halted the ChatGPT Plus subscription service, citing a capacity shortage to meet user demands. The company has indicated that the subscription service is expected to resume in the coming days as it addresses capacity issues.
Following his recent departure as OpenAI CEO, Altman has officially joined Microsoft, as revealed by Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella in a tweet on Monday. Nadella expressed Microsoft's unwavering commitment to its collaboration with OpenAI, emphasising confidence in its product roadmap and the ability to sustain innovation, as previously unveiled at Microsoft Ignite.
Additionally, Nadella anticipates collaboration with the new interim OpenAI CEO Emmett Shear and the firm's new leadership team. Notably, the announcement includes the exciting news that Sam Altman and Greg Brockman, alongside their colleagues, will spearhead a novel advanced AI research team at Microsoft. Nadella affirmed the company's eagerness to swiftly provide the necessary resources for the success of this venture.