OpenAI releases new voice models for more natural live conversations | TechCrunch

OpenAI today released new conversational models, called GPT-Live-1 and GPT-Live-1 mini, claiming that they sound more natural and can handle turn-taking better. These are full-duplex models, meaning they can speak and listen at the same time, allowing users to interrupt naturally and enabling features like live translation.The company is also replacing its current Advanced Voice Mode in ChatGPT with GPT-Live-1 mini by default. Users of paid tiers will be able to access the larger GPT-Live-1 model. The previous model combined a speech-to-text model to transcribe speech, a large language model to generate responses, and a text-to-speech model to deliver the final answer.The company said in a press briefing that the new models solve issues like interrupting users while they’re talking and not having enough intelligence to answer questions. OpenAI’s new models will send the query to its latest text models like GPT-5.5 for search, reasoning, or agentic capabilities while continuing the conversation.OpenAI also showed that the model can stay silent for a long time and absorb the context of the conversation until it’s called upon. Plus, as the new voice mode has access to newer GPT models, it can also present some information in a visual format. Other startups like Monogram, which raised $40 million in seed funding from DST and Lux Capital, are also leaning into visual responses to make assistants more interactive.The company said the new voice mode in ChatGPT is designed to have longer conversations. During the briefing, ChatGPT Voice’s product lead, Atty Eleti, said he has had 30- to 40-minute-long conversations with the voice feature during walks.OpenAI thinks that voice could be the primary interface to computing for complex work. Reports have suggested that it could launch a pair of earbuds with AI capabilities this year. However, it didn’t provide any information on hardware products.“Over time, we think this will also unlock the ability to use voice as a kind of primary interface to computing, and to manage increasingly complex long-running agentic work. The kind of amazing use cases that we see people using Codex and ChatGPT to accomplish, we think voice can be the future interface to all kinds of work,” Eleti said.OpenAI has worked on bolstering voice-based features over the past few years to make ChatGPT’s voice mode sound more natural. The company said that more than 150 million people talk to ChatGPT using features like Voice and Dictation. Rivals are also attempting to make assistants more expressive. Both Apple and Amazon have updated their assistants to be more conversational with better context handling. Startups like Sesame, founded by Oculus co-founder Brendan Iribe and Ankit Kumar, also launched AI assistants with more natural conversation while completing tasks in the background.OpenAI is moving in the same direction, aiming to let users talk to its assistant hands-free for a longer time. Despite its claim that the new voice mode sounds more natural, the company emphasized that it’s not aiming to make this an AI companion. It noted that the new models have safeguards built in to give age-appropriate responses to teens and provide resources if the conversation turns to topics like self-harm.The new voice mode still needs work. During the demo, when the company showed its live translation feature in Hindi, the assistant had a heavy American accent and spoke in Hindi that was unnatural sounding and had slightly bookish tone. The company said the new mode is optimized for “most spoken languages” but didn’t specify which ones.Topics*When you purchase through links in our articles, we may earn a small commission. This doesn’t affect our editorial independence.*Ivan covers global consumer tech developments at TechCrunch. He is based out of India and has previously worked at publications including Huffington Post and The Next Web.You can contact or verify outreach from Ivan by emailing im@ivanmehta.com or via encrypted message at ivan.42 on Signal. Last chance to save up to $190 on TechCrunch Founder Summit. Join 1,000+ founders and VCs at all stages for real-world scaling insights and connections that move the needle.

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