Language Models
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Creating GPT-Live voices from text for free, plus new Japanese voices Harema and Shida

2026/10/18

On 16 October 2026 OpenAI released prompt-to-voice, which creates a GPT-Live voice from a text description, for all API customers⁠[1]. Creating the voice is free, and speech generated in it is billed at regular GPT-Live session rates⁠[1,2].

GPT-Live sessions cost $0.05 per minute, billed per second, and the backend model and tool usage are charged separately⁠[1].

Nine voices were added to GPT-Live the same day⁠[1]. They are Harema and Shida in Japanese, Nuri, Juni and Flitz in German, Brise and Sillage in French, Nira in Hindi and Noeul in Korean⁠[1].

A voice is created by sending type prompt to /v1/audio/voices, or in the voice Playground⁠[2]. The description covers qualities such as accent, age, pitch, timbre and speech rate in plain language⁠[2]. The response carries metadata such as the voice ID, with no audio or preview⁠[2].

To use the voice, set session.audio.output.voice.id to its ID and also include the voice description in session.instructions⁠[2]. Listening to a voice in the Playground is billed as a regular session too⁠[2].

An organization can create up to 100 prompt-generated voices, including voices an application creates for its customers⁠[2]. These voices work only with GPT-Live, not with the Text to Speech, Realtime or Chat Completions APIs⁠[2].

Descriptions must not ask for an imitation of a named person, public figure or fictional character, and children's voices are not allowed⁠[2]. Voices from recordings are limited to eligible customers, with up to 20 per organization and samples of 30 seconds or less⁠[2].