Introducing GPT‑Live

Simon Willison · Simon Willison · 8 July 2026, 23:20 ● Covered by 6 sources

OpenAI upgraded the model powering ChatGPT's voice mode to a new version called GPT-Live that can delegate complex tasks to GPT-5.5 while maintaining conversation flow. The previous voice mode used a GPT-4o era model with a knowledge cutoff in 2024, whereas GPT-Live will use GPT-5.5 at launch and update automatically as newer models are released. Users can now use voice mode for more complex reasoning and web search tasks without interrupting the natural back-and-forth conversation.

Why it matters

Introducing GPT‑Live OpenAI finally upgraded the model used by ChatGPT voice mode! I've had preview access for a few weeks in the iPhone app, and the new model is very impressive. It also has the ability to spin off harder tasks to GPT-5.5: For questions that require web search, deeper reasoning, or more complex work, it delegates to our latest frontier model behind the scenes and brings the result back into the conversation when it’s ready. While it works, GPT‑Live can keep talking with you and maintain the flow of conversation. At launch, GPT‑Live will use GPT‑5.5 in the background. As we release new frontier models, we’ll continuously update the model used by GPT‑Live. The previous voice mode in the ChatGPT app was based on a GPT-4o era model, with a knowledge cut-off some time in 2024. I had mostly stopped using voice mode because the age and relative weakness of the model greatly limited how useful it was as a brainstorming partner. During the preview period I encountered a pretty