Sam Altman says new ChatGPT voice model has crossed a quality threshold

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said at a Federal Reserve conference that voice authentication is "a crazy thing to still be doing" and that AI has "fully defeated that," according to a post on the GetKim.com website. The article cites Altman's remarks as part of a broader warning about the rise of AI voice cloning tools that can replicate a voice from seconds of audio. Researchers say the technology has crossed an indistinguishable threshold with fakes sounding so real that 70% of people cannot tell the difference. The post details how scammers use legitimate tools like ElevenLabs and Resemble AI as well as darker versions on the dark web to impersonate family members and steal money. It cites a BBC reporter who used a cloned voice to break into accounts at two major banks and a Business Insider reporter who did the same with a low-cost service. The article urges consumers to set a family code word, hang up and call back on verified numbers, lock down social media accounts and opt out of bank voice authentication systems.