ChatGPT’s Advanced Voice Mode lands in your desktop browser – and it’s a big step towards its rumored Operator agent

ChatGPT Voice mode on a website.
Here's what ChatGPT Advanced Voice Mode looks like running in a web browser. (Image credit: OpenAI)

  • OpenAI is rolling out ChatGPT Advanced Voice mode in the browser
  • Only paying subscribers will get access for now
  • It's a vital first step towards browser-based AI agents for ChatGPT

It's been a busy time for ChatGPT and OpenAI. Hot on the heels of rumors that ChatGPT Advanced Voice mode (the ability to have a free-flowing conversation with the AI) is about to get the ability to 'see', and rolling out the ChatGPT Windows app to all free users last week, it has just announced that Advanced Voice mode is now available in the browser-based version of ChatGPT, for paid subscribers only.

So, if you're a ChatGPT Plus or Teams subscriber, a visit to ChatGPT.com (or the newly purchased Chat.com domain) will soon give you access to the Advanced Voice mode option that has previously only been available only in the app versions of ChatGPT.

ChatGPT Advanced Voice Mode was released in September on mobile and was recently added to the desktop apps. The browser release is described as "rolling out", so you might not see the Advanced Voice mode when you log in with ChatGPT (we currently don't have access), but that should change in the coming days.

Free users will eventually get access to Advanced Voice Mode too. In a post on X.com, which also contains a video that shows how ChatGPT Advanced Voice Mode works in a browser, Kevin Weil, CPO of OpenAI said, "We'll look to roll to free users in the coming weeks."

AI Operators

ChatGPT Advanced Voice mode is a vital first step towards the rumored ChatGPT Operator Agent, a tool that might change the way we interact with our computers and technology in general.

ChatGPT Operator Agent is an AI Agent that can interact directly with your computer on your behalf. Agents aren't unique to OpenAI – everybody from Anthropic to Google and Microsoft is also developing autonomous AI agents that can see what's on your screen and interact with it. You could, for example, get an AI Agent to pay your bills, or book a holiday for you, taking the virtual assistant model to the next level. Voice control in the browser will be a necessary first step for using an AI Agent since the majority of its work will be browser-based.

Don't expect the announcements from OpenAI to slow down before the end of the year. We're still expecting ChatGPT search, which launched recently for paid users, to be made available to users on the free tier any day now. It launched with the note, "We’ll roll out to Free users over the coming months.”

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Graham Barlow
Senior Editor, AI

Graham is the Senior Editor for AI at TechRadar. With over 25 years of experience in both online and print journalism, Graham has worked for various market-leading tech brands including Computeractive, PC Pro, iMore, MacFormat, Mac|Life, Maximum PC, and more. He specializes in reporting on everything to do with AI and has appeared on BBC TV shows like BBC One Breakfast and on Radio 4 commenting on the latest trends in tech. Graham has an honors degree in Computer Science and spends his spare time podcasting and blogging.

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