--- title: "OpenAI Fans Slam Delay of ChatGPT Voice Mode, as Company Hints at Trouble Behind the Scenes" description: "The Voice Mode assistant for ChatGPT, originally teased in May, has been delayed for at least another month, according to OpenAI." date: "2024-06-26" modified: "2024-06-26" authors: - name: "Frank Landymore" job_title: "Contributing Writer" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/flandymore" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/openai-chatgpt-voice-mode-trouble" categories: - "Artificial Intelligence" - "OpenAI" tags: - "chatgpt" - "generative ai" - "OpenAI" - "the digest" --- # OpenAI Fans Slam Delay of ChatGPT Voice Mode, as Company Hints at Trouble Behind the Scenes ![The Voice Mode assistant for ChatGPT, originally teased in May, has been delayed for at least another month, according to OpenAI.]() *\Image: Getty / Futurism\* ## Date With Disaster There's heartbreak in the buzzing world of AI, because legions of lonely OpenAI fans have just been stood up by, well, "[Her]()." The company first teased the expressive — [and flirty]()? — Voice Mode assistant for ChatGPT, which could engage in bubbly, real-time conversations and even read facial expressions, [back in May](). At the time, the feature was expected to roll out in an alpha test to a select group of paid ChatGPT Plus subscribers by June. But now, in an [announcement on X-formerly-Twitter](), OpenAI says its Voice Mode needs one more month "to reach our bar to launch," with a wider launch to all Plus subscribers in the fall — a move that's led to even more controversy around the AI assistant. ## Saying No Some of the stated reasons for the delay are boilerplate. OpenAI said, in vague terms, that it's "improving the user experience," as well as readying its infrastructure to handle the incoming millions of users who will eventually engage with Voice Mode. Another reason that it snuck in, though, could raise eyebrows: OpenAI is also, cryptically, "improving the model's ability to detect and refuse certain content." That sounds like the Voice Mode is prone to some bad behavior and could constitute a far deeper safety — or "alignment," in the AI sector's euphemistic parlance — problem [that has plagued chatbots in general](), where they spout inappropriate or dangerous content either unprompted [or at the deliberate request of a user](). (We won't rule out people simply being horny with it, either.) ## Troubled Project Regardless of the reasons, fans aren't happy. Some have characterized the delay as a "[rug pull]()," after paying for a ChatGPT Plus subscription on OpenAI's initial promise that Voice Mode would be coming down the pipe in "the coming weeks." Others have speculated that the promising demos we saw in May were misleadingly overblown — [which wouldn't be unprecedented](). But more generally, most have simply mocked OpenAI's failure to ship a product. Its rival [Anthropic](), in the meantime, has just released a [blockbuster new update]() to its chatbot Claude, now Claude 3.5. It's an unenviable position for OpenAI. The company was already battered, just last month, by controversy surrounding one of the voices for Voice Mode. Many thought that it bore an [uncanny resemblance to actress Scarlett Johansson's]() role in the movie "Her," in which she portrays a chirpy AI assistant that a lonely man falls in love with. OpenAI [removed the voice]() — but only just before Johansson's [publicly excoriated]() the company. With this latest delay, which is apparently unrelated to that PR disaster, OpenAI has only set up itself for further scrutiny, while leaving fans even more disappointed. **More on OpenAI:** *[OpenAI Exec Says AI Will Kill Creative Jobs That "Shouldn't Have Been There in the First Place"]()* ## Author At Futurism, my work has often centered on bringing a sense of clarity and insight to complex topics ranging from the regulation of emerging technologies to the esoteric ideologies of Silicon Valley executives, while striving not to lose the poetic sense of awe inspired by often-obscure fields like astrophysics and quantum computing. I broke the story of CNET using AI to produce articles that turned out to be riddled with factual errors and plagiarism — a dam-breaking inflection point, as I've reported, that's inspired copycats and endless discourse while beguiling stakeholders ranging from tech giants to purveyors of spam around the web. My work at Futurism has been cited by publications including CBS News, the Los Angeles Times, Vice, Gizmodo, Engadget, the Verge, and Vanity Fair. I grew up in locales ranging from India to China, and now live in the exotic suburbs of Virginia. In my free time, I'm an avid reader of weird sci-fi literature, an aficionado of East Asian cinema, and, regrettably, a relapsed gamer. Allegedly, I’m working on a debut novel, currently untitled. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()