Anthropic is preparing to introduce a voice assistant feature for its Claude chatbot, according to sources familiar with the situation.

The feature, known as “voice mode,” may launch later this month on a limited basis.

The rollout is expected to include three voice options: Airy, Mellow, and a British-accented voice named Buttery, as reported by Bloomberg News after reviewing the app’s iOS code.

However, the specific launch timeline and details are subject to change. Anthropic has not publicly commented on these developments.

🔗 Source: Bloomberg

🧠 Food for thought

1️⃣ Voice assistants represent the latest chapter in a 150-year technological evolution

Anthropic’s upcoming voice feature follows a long historical progression that began with Edison’s phonograph in 1877, which could only record and play back sounds without interpretation.

The first true speech recognition device, “Audrey,” was developed in 1952, capable of recognizing only numerical digits with pauses between each number 1.

IBM’s “Shoebox” represented a breakthrough in 1962, understanding 16 spoken words and digits, functioning as a very basic voice-activated calculator 2.

The 1990s saw Dragon Dictate emerge as the first consumer speech recognition product, though initially priced at $9,000, highlighting how expensive early voice technology was for average users 3.

Modern voice assistants only became mainstream in the 2010s, with Amazon’s Alexa (2014) representing a significant moment that brought voice technology into millions of homes and established new user expectations 4.

Anthropic’s entry into voice AI reflects how voice interaction has transformed from a niche technology into a standard feature consumers now expect from advanced AI systems.

2️⃣ Voice features have become a competitive necessity in the AI platform wars

Anthropic’s voice launch follows nearly a year after OpenAI introduced similar capabilities, illustrating how voice has become essential functionality in the AI assistant market.

Amazon, Google, and Apple invested heavily in developing their voice technologies throughout the 2010s, with voice interaction becoming central to their ecosystem strategies and competitive positioning 4.