ChatGPT gets a voice, but only a 'small group of users' will get to hear it at launch for a $20 monthly subscription

What you need to know

• OpenAI announced its plan to ship its long-awaited Voice Mode to ChatGPT later this week.
• The feature will ship exclusively to ChatGPT Plus users, meaning you'll need to pay a $20 monthly subscription for access.
• OpenAI says the feature will only be available for a small group of users to gather feedback and expand its capabilities.
• Voice Mode is expected to ship to broad availability later in the fall.

After much anticipation, OpenAI is ready to ship ChatGPT's new Voice Mode. It's perhaps the most anticipated feature, especially after the company shared demos illustrating its capabilities at the Spring Update event .

The ChatGPT maker is slated to ship the long-awaited Voice Mode later this week . In a detailed X post, OpenAI indicated it had planned to roll out the feature in alpha to a limited number of ChatGPT Plus users in late June. However, it delayed the feature's launch by one month to ensure it meets the set threshold and standard.

According to the ChatGPT maker:

"ChatGPT’s advanced Voice Mode can understand and respond with emotions and non-verbal cues, moving us closer to real-time, natural conversations with AI."

OpenAI used the additional time to improve the tool's reliability and efficiency, including enhancing its ability to detect and refuse certain content. CEO Sam Altman also highlighted the feature will ship exclusively to ChatGPT Plus users. "Alpha rollout starts to plus subscribers next week!" stated Altman while responding to a user's query seeking more information about Voice Mode's launch.

The feature might not be available for every ChatGPT Plus user. According to OpenAI's announcement, it will "start the alpha with a small group of users to gather feedback and expand based on what we learn." It's unclear how the company will select the "small group of users," considering it hasn't indicated how users can sign up for access.

According to a spot by our sister site, Tom's Guide , the new advanced Voice Mode will ship with three capabilities including live translation, custom character voices,

While not every ChatGPT Plus user will have access at launch, OpenAI plans to ship the advanced Voice Mode to broad availability in the fall.