What: OpenAI is expanding ChatGPT's capabilities, introducing voice and image-based interactions.

Why it is important: The new voice technology — capable of crafting realistic synthetic voices from just a few seconds of real speech — opens doors to many creative and accessibility-focused applications, as well as risks for malicious actors.

Users can engage in voice conversations with the chatbot, make voice requests like bedtime stories, and ask questions, receiving responses in spoken form. Additionally, ChatGPT will support image-based queries, where users can upload images and ask for explanations or instructions. The voice feature relies on a text-to-speech model, offering five different voices. Spotify is partnering with OpenAI to allow podcasters to translate their shows into other languages while retaining their original voice. These new features will roll out to paying subscribers, initially on Android and iOS for voice conversations.

OpenAI gives ChatGPT a voice for verbal conversations