Meta is reportedly planning to announce a new voice mode feature for the original Meta AI chatbot. The feature is believed to work similar to the voice mode on OpenAI’s ChatGPT chatbot and allows users to have two-way conversations with the AI. However, the social media giant is said to have partnered with various celebrities and public figures to include their voices in the Meta AI feature. The company has reportedly secured deals with John Cena, Kirsten Bell and other celebrities.
Reuters reports that the social media giant has partnered with multiple celebrities to lend their voices to Meta AI. Citing unnamed people familiar with Meta’s plans, the report said there are five celebrities in total including John Cena, Kristen Bell, Judi Dench, Awkwafin and Kegan-Michael Key.
When users talk to Meta AI, they will hear the answers in celebrity voices of their choice. In addition, the social media platform is said to be adding several generic voice options for users. This feature will reportedly be introduced as a new feature coming to Meta AI on Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp.
Meta is reportedly planning to announce this two-way chat capability during its annual Connect conference starting on Wednesday. These voices are said to be available first in the US and other English-speaking markets later this week. The social media giant is expected to release it in other regions later this year. It is not known if the feature will make it to India.
Separately, WhatsApp feature tracker WABetaInfo also noted that the app plans to add a Meta AI voice mode feature. The instant messaging app’s AI chatbot will reportedly receive three British-accented voices, two American-accented voices and five voices from public figures. Generic voices are said to vary in gender, pitch and regional accents.
Namely, OpenAI unveiled an upgrade to its voice mode during the spring update event, where the company claimed that the advanced voice mode will be released with an emotive voice and the ability to react to what the user says. On the other hand, Google has released the Gemini Live feature which offers similar capabilities.
