OpenAI Introduces Voice Assistant Capable of Mimicking Your Voice, But No Plans for Launch

SAN FRANCISCO: ChatGPT maker OpenAI is entering the voice assistant business, showing off new technology that can clone the human voice, but says it won’t yet release it publicly for security reasons.

The AI company unveiled its new Voice Engine technology on Friday, just over a week after filing to trademark the name. The company claims it can recreate a person’s voice in just 15 seconds by recording that person speaking.

OpenAI says it plans to preview it with early testers “but will not release this technology widely at this time” due to the dangers of abuse.

“We understand that producing speech that resembles human voices involves serious risks, which are especially important in an election year,” the San Francisco company said in a statement.

In New Hampshire, authorities are investigating robocalls sent to thousands of voters just before the presidential election that featured an AI-generated voice imitating President Joe Biden.

Several startups already sell voice cloning technology, some of which is available to the public or select corporate customers such as entertainment studios.

OpenAI says that early Voice Engine testers have agreed not to impersonate a person without their consent and to disclose that the voices are AI-generated. The company, best known for its chatbot and image generator DALL-E, took a similar approach when announcing its video generator Sora, but didn’t publicize it widely.

However, a trademark application filed on March 19 indicates that OpenAI is likely aiming to enter the field of speech recognition and digital voice assistants. Ultimately, improving such technology could help OpenAI compete with other voice products such as Amazon’s Alexa.

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