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OpenAI, the company that makes ChatGPT, is getting into the voice assistant business and has unveiled new technology that can clone a person’s voice. However, the technology will not yet be released publicly due to security concerns.
The new technology is called Voice Engine, and it was unveiled just over a week after OpenAI itself filed a trademark application for the name. With this technology, OpenAI states, it will be possible to recreate a person’s voice simply by starting from just 15 seconds of recording of that person speaking.
Reserved for “beta testers”
OpenAI says that it plans to preview Voice Engine to some “beta testers”, “but that it does not intend to release this technology widely, at least at this time”, due to the dangers of improper use.
“We know that generating speech in the voices that resemble those of real people carries 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 shortly before the presidential primary that featured an AI-generated voice imitating President Joe Biden.