OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT, has announced its Voice Engine technology that can replicate a person’s voice with just 15 seconds of recorded speech. However, despite filing for a trademark on the name, OpenAI has stated that it will not release the technology to the public due to safety concerns. The company plans to share the technology with early testers but not widely release it at this time in order to prevent misuse.
Several startup companies already offer voice-cloning technology to the public or select business customers, including entertainment studios. OpenAI’s Voice Engine testers have agreed to only use the technology with consent and to disclose that the voices generated are AI-generated. This approach is similar to how OpenAI previously handled its video-generator Sora, which was announced but not widely released.
Although OpenAI has shown interest in the speech recognition and digital voice assistant business, the technology is currently not available to the public. Improving this technology could potentially allow OpenAI to compete with other voice products like Amazon’s Alexa. OpenAI has a licensing and technology agreement with The Associated Press, providing them access to part of AP’s text archives.
