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TL;DR
OpenAI says it will retire Advanced and Standard voice in ChatGPT on Dec. 11, 2026, and switch users who selected them to GPT-Live. Live video and screen sharing will keep using Advanced voice until GPT-Live supports those features; past conversations will remain available. Some users have complained about GPT-Live’s interruptions and different sound, while OpenAI says nearly all ChatGPT voice users already use it.
OpenAI will retire Advanced and Standard voice in ChatGPT on Dec. 11, 2026, leaving GPT-Live as the remaining voice mode in the settings, according to the company’s Nov. 10 announcement. Users who selected either older mode will be switched to GPT-Live, while live video and screen sharing will continue to rely on Advanced voice until GPT-Live can support them.
OpenAI’s newsroom account said the company is retiring the two modes from ChatGPT Voice. Help-center details reported by Interesting Engineering and FourWeekMBA say users can continue using Advanced or Standard voice during the notice period. On Dec. 11, both choices will disappear from Settings > Voice, and users who had selected them will move to Live voice, powered by GPT-Live. The change gives users 31 days’ notice, from the announcement on Nov. 10 to the retirement date.
The change does not mean that previous conversations will be deleted. According to the help-center information cited by Interesting Engineering, chats made with the older modes will remain in users’ histories and can be continued by text or voice. A spoken continuation will use GPT-Live. Users will not have to manually transfer their chat history.
Two exceptions apply during the change. The help center says live video and screen sharing will continue to use Advanced voice until GPT-Live has those capabilities. Voice with custom GPTs will also continue using Advanced voice until its retirement on Dec. 11. That date coincides with a separate OpenAI plan to retire custom GPTs across ChatGPT plans, as described in company release notes and reported by MIXED.
What changes in ChatGPT voice and what remains
OpenAI is removing Advanced and Standard voice from ChatGPT settings. Users who selected either mode will move to GPT-Live, while some features will keep using Advanced voice for now.
How the modes handle speech
The main difference is how each mode processes and responds to spoken conversation.
| Mode | How it works | After Dec. 11 |
|---|---|---|
| Standard | Speech is transcribed, a language model responds, then text is spoken aloud. | Removed from settings |
| Advanced | Processes speech directly and waits for the user to finish before replying. | Removed, with feature exceptions |
| GPT-Live | Can listen and speak at the same time. | Remaining ChatGPT voice option |
What happens to users
Existing conversations stay in chat history; users do not need to transfer them.
Advanced and Standard remain available during the notice period.
On Dec. 11, users who selected either older mode move to GPT-Live.
Past chats remain available. Spoken follow-ups use GPT-Live.
Features with a different path
Some ChatGPT uses are not moving to GPT-Live on Dec. 11.
- Live video and screen sharing will continue using Advanced voice until GPT-Live supports them; OpenAI has not given a date.
- Voice with custom GPTs will continue using Advanced voice until its retirement on Dec. 11.
- The announcement concerns ChatGPT voice modes. Developers should check schedules for the specific API models they use.
What Changes for Voice Users
For most users, the immediate effect is a change in how spoken conversations work, not the loss of their existing chat records. Anyone who prefers Advanced or Standard voice will no longer be able to choose those modes after Dec. 11. Users can keep using voice, but their conversations will run through GPT-Live.
Some users say the differences matter to how a conversation feels and functions. TechRadar reported complaints that GPT-Live interrupts, fills silences with short acknowledgments such as “yeah” and “anyway,” and does not sound like the voices users previously chose. A thread on OpenAI’s community forum titled “Keep Standard Voice Mode!” had 100 posts as of Nov. 12, according to the source material. Some forum participants also said they rely on voice for accessibility. Those accounts show concerns raised by users, but do not establish how common each problem is across ChatGPT’s user base.
The change also matters for organizations and developers deciding how to use OpenAI voice tools. OpenAI’s stated retirement concerns the ChatGPT interface; the available information does not say that the same Dec. 11 date ends access through the API. Developers should distinguish this product change from separate API model retirement notices.
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How the Three Modes Differ
The modes differ in how they handle speech, not only in their voices. Standard voice used a sequence of three models: one converted speech to text, a language model generated a response, and text-to-speech read it aloud. That description comes from OpenAI’s help-center material as quoted by FourWeekMBA and from TechRadar.
Advanced voice processed speech directly, but it waited for the user to finish speaking before replying. GPT-Live is described by OpenAI as full-duplex: it can listen and speak at the same time. OpenAI’s developer documentation describes the API model GPT-Live-1 as a real-time voice model that can also delegate reasoning and tool use to a backend agent. The ChatGPT retirement notice, however, does not mean that every capability described for the API model is already available in ChatGPT.
OpenAI introduced GPT-Live on July 8 as a new generation of voice models for natural human-AI interaction. The company’s explanation for consolidating the ChatGPT options is that voice use has “nearly doubled” since GPT-Live arrived and that “virtually all” people using voice in ChatGPT now use it. Those are OpenAI’s descriptions; the announcement did not provide underlying user counts or a measurement period for the reported growth.
““I’m beyond disappointed because ChatGPT means a lot to me.””
— A ChatGPT user quoted by TechRadar
GPT-Live Feature Gaps Remain
OpenAI has not said when GPT-Live will support live video and screen sharing, so those features will continue using Advanced voice for an unspecified period. The company has also not provided detailed comparative data on how many people use each mode, what it means by “nearly doubled,” or how it measured that change.
It remains unclear how the reported user complaints about interruptions, filler phrases, and voice differences will affect people who are moved to GPT-Live. The available reporting describes individual reactions and a forum discussion, but does not establish their prevalence. OpenAI’s stated plans to improve response depth, conversational continuity, and personalization are reported intentions, not confirmation that particular changes will arrive by Dec. 11.
The ChatGPT announcement should not be treated as notice that all OpenAI voice technology is being discontinued. OpenAI’s API deprecation page reportedly listed no voice entry on Nov. 10. Separate older API audio and voice models have shutdown dates between Jan. 6 and Feb. 26, 2027, according to the source material. The exact effect of those separate schedules depends on the specific model and API service used.
The December 11 Switch
Until Dec. 11, 2026, ChatGPT users can continue to use Advanced and Standard voice, according to the help-center details reported by other outlets. On that date, those options are scheduled to leave Settings > Voice and affected users are expected to move to GPT-Live. Existing conversations will remain available, but spoken follow-ups will use the new mode.
Users who depend on live video, screen sharing, or voice in custom GPTs should watch for further OpenAI notices about the related feature and product changes. OpenAI has not given a date for moving live video and screen sharing to GPT-Live. Developers using OpenAI’s API should check the specific deprecation schedule for their models rather than assume the ChatGPT change applies to their integrations.
Key Questions
When will ChatGPT remove Advanced and Standard voice?
OpenAI has scheduled their removal for Dec. 11, 2026. They remain available during the notice period, according to help-center details reported by other outlets.
What happens to users who selected an older voice mode?
They will be switched to GPT-Live when Advanced and Standard voice are removed. Their prior conversations will remain in ChatGPT and can be continued by text or voice.
Will live video and screen sharing stop working?
Not on the announced date, according to the help-center information cited in reporting. Those features will continue to use Advanced voice until GPT-Live supports them; OpenAI has not said when that will happen.
Does the ChatGPT change retire OpenAI’s voice API?
The announcement covers voice modes in ChatGPT, not a general API shutdown. The source material says OpenAI’s API deprecation page listed no voice entry on Nov. 10, while separate older audio and voice models have their own announced retirement dates.
Why are some users objecting to the change?
Some users have said GPT-Live interrupts, adds short filler responses, or sounds different from the older voices. These are user-reported concerns; the available reporting does not show how widespread they are.
Source: ThorstenMeyerAI.com
