OpenAI Enhances ChatGPT Voice Assistant to Compete with Major Players

On Monday, OpenAI announced the release of updates to its ChatGPT voice assistant, aiming to establish itself as a strong competitor against well-known rivals such as Amazon.com, Inc.s Alexa and the AI startup Sesame.

What Happened: The new Advanced Voice Mode for ChatGPT is intended to improve the user experience by making the AI assistant sound more human-like. It focuses on being more personable and less intrusive, meaning it will interrupt users less frequently.

Manuka Stratta, a post-training researcher at OpenAI, discussed these improvements in a video available on YouTube. She stated, "Because it interrupts you less, you’ll be able to have more time to gather your thoughts and not feel like you have to fill in all the gaps and silences all the time." This adjustment aims to enhance the assistant's performance during live voice conversations, addressing a common frustration among users about voice AI systems interrupting them prematurely.

Additionally, the update allows free users to pause in the middle of a conversation without being interrupted, while paying subscribers—including those on the Plus, Teams, Edu, Business, and Pro plans—will benefit from an even more advanced version of this feature.

Why It's Important: This improvement comes at a time of fierce competition in the AI voice assistant market.

OpenAI is facing pressures from new players like Sesame, which has gained attention for its natural-sounding AI voices, Maya and Miles. Furthermore, Amazon is also set to enhance Alexa with a new large language model-powered upgrade, as reported by TechCrunch.

In the backdrop of these developments, it has been reported that SoftBank Group is in discussions to lead a new investment round for OpenAI. This funding could raise $40 billion, potentially valuing the ChatGPT creator at $300 billion, marking an unprecedented deal for a privately held firm.

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OpenAI, ChatGPT, Alexa