ChatGPT’s Advanced Voice mode is now available in Europe, months after coming to the US and the UK.
OpenAI revealed the update with a casual tweet on X.com as a reply to user Sophie Escrivant, who enquired, “Any update for us in Europe?”
OpenAI’s reply confirmed that European users can now try Advanced Voice mode:
Well yes.All Plus users in the EU, Switzerland, Iceland, Norway, and Liechtenstein now have access to Advanced Voice. https://t.co/AC6mdd1LkfOctober 22, 2024
The company’s reply, “Well yes. All Plus users in the EU, Switzerland, Iceland, Norway, and Liechtenstein now have access to Advanced Voice”, is one of the most casual announcements of a major rollout we can remember! It’s unclear whether OpenAI will now grant all user requests, or if this was a one-off.
What is Advanced Voice mode?
Advanced Voice mode is the ability to use ChatGPT by speaking to it, instead of typing, and also have it reply to you in one of its nine different voices. While the original ChatGPT already had a voice mode, that lets you talk to the chatbot and translate your speech into text, the new Advanced Voice mode is much more like a real conversation with a human. You can talk about more complex topics, and also interrupt the answer it’s giving you if you find it is going on too long (which it does tend to do).
Advanced Voice mode requires a paid subscription to ChatGPT Plus which costs $20 p/month (around £16 / AU$30), but you do get 10 minutes a month of free access on the free tier. To access Advanced Voice mode you just tap the Advanced Voice mode icon that is to the right of the prompt window. If you’re reading this in Europe and don’t see the icon there, then update your app and have another look. The screen then changes to show a glowing blue orb, which indicates that ChatGPT is listening.
All the major languages
The rollout of Advanced Voice mode has been very slow and gradual, with the UK getting the mode long before the rest of Europe. ChatGPT attributed the slow rollout to local requirements when we asked why, commenting: “Some parts of the world require additional external reviews before launching new products. This is a common practice to ensure the feature aligns with local requirements. These can take a little time. We hope to share an update soon.” Well, that time has arrived!
ChatGPT can speak all the major European languages. When asked what it can speak it lists English, Spanish, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Dutch Swedish, Danish, Norwegian, Finnish, Greek, Polish, Russian, Czech, and Hungarian. But it also seems to work for some of the less-known languages. For instance, user ASM noted, “Great! Working well in Catalan and Spanish”.
The news of ChatGPT’s Advanced Voice mode release was greeted with a positive reaction by other users on X.com, with the user Prashant commenting what most people were probably thinking, “Finally, EUROPE can use advanced voice without VPN”.