ChatGPT's human-like Advanced Voice Mode feature can say “Sorry I’m late” in over 50 languages — but the EU is reportedly turning a deaf ear to OpenAI's plea because it can detect user emotion

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The EU is reportedly barring OpenAI from shipping its Advanced Voice mode feature to ChatGPT Plus and Team users.

ChatGPT's Voice Mode
ChatGPT's Voice Mode (Image credit: Poonam Soni)

What you need to know

  • OpenAI's long-anticipated Advanced Voice mode has shipped to broad availability for all ChatGPT Plus and Teams users.
  • It won't be available for users in the EU, the UK, Switzerland, Iceland, Norway, and Liechtenstein, presumably because of the stringent EU AI Act that prohibits the use of AI systems that can recognize a user's emotions. 
  • The feature is buried behind a $20 dollar subscription, and you should've received a pop-up notification that you have access to Advanced Voice mode while using ChatGPT. 

OpenAI's Advanced Voice mode for its ChatGPT AI-powered chatbot is arguably the most-anticipated feature among users this year. We first got to learn about the neat feature during the ChatGPT maker's Spring event, where it unveiled its "magical" GPT-4o model with reasoning capabilities across audio, vision, and text. 

While showcasing the models capabilities, OpenAI indicated it would ship the Advanced Voice mode feature in June, but the date was delayed to July over safety concerns, including improving its ability to detect and refuse harmful content. 

However, the long-anticipated feature didn't ship in July either. ChatGPT's Advanced Voice mode feature only started shipping to ChatGPT Plus and Teams users earlier this week, with OpenAI CEO Sam Altman confirming that the rollout phase is already complete. Users with access to the neat feature should've seen a pop-up message while using the ChatGPT indicating that they have access to Advanced Voice mode. 

The Advanced Voice mode feature ships with five new voices, custom instructions, improved conversational speed, smoothness, and accents in select foreign languages. It's worth noting that the feature isn't available the EU, the UK, Switzerland, Iceland, Norway, and Liechtenstein yet. You'll also need a $20 monthly subscription to access the feature.

Why ChatGPT's Advanced Voice Mode isn't available in the EU

ChatGPT on Android (Image credit: Shutterstock)

While OpenAI doesn't categorically indicate why its Advanced Voice Mode feature won't be available for ChatGPT Plus and Teams users despite having the $20 monthly subscription, X user Dean W Ball highlighted a section of the EU's stringent AI Act as a plausible explanation (via TechRadar). The specific clause restricts "the placing on the market, the putting into service for this specific purpose, or the use of AI systems to infer emotions of a natural person."

As such, it's quite possible that the EU has been left out of the fray because the Advanced Voice mode feature has the capability of recognizing the user's emotions, which is, therefore, in violation of the EU AI Act. 

As you may know, the feature leverages OpenAI's "magical" GPT-4o model to facilitate quick responses and interpretation of text, visuals, and audio. Based on the demos flooding the internet, the feature is quite advanced and feels like you are having a conversation with a human being. 

It's unclear if the feature will eventually ship to users in the EU, but it seems the EU AI Act will bar sophisticated AI advances from widely spreading across the EU region. 

Elsewhere, the EU AI Act recently protected users in the EU, EEA, and Switzerland from Microsoft's employment-focused social network, LinkedIn, from secretly using their data to train its AI models.

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Kevin Okemwa
Kevin Okemwa
Contributor

Kevin Okemwa is a seasoned tech journalist based in Nairobi, Kenya with lots of experience covering the latest trends and developments in the industry at Windows Central. With a passion for innovation and a keen eye for detail, he has written for leading publications such as OnMSFT, MakeUseOf, and Windows Report, providing insightful analysis and breaking news on everything revolving around the Microsoft ecosystem. You'll also catch him occasionally contributing at iMore about Apple and AI. While AFK and not busy following the ever-emerging trends in tech, you can find him exploring the world or listening to music.