Talk to Me, Claude! Anthropic Rolls Out Engaging Voice Function
The AI tool has started rolling out a “voice mode” for its Claude chatbot apps.
The incoming voice mode (in beta for now) allows Claude mobile app users to have “complete spoken conversations with Claude,” and will arrive in English over the next few weeks, according to Anthropic’s official account on X and updated documentation on the company’s website.
Joining the Competition
A number of AI companies, including OpenAI, offer voice chat experiences for their respective chatbots. Google, for example, has Gemini Live, while xAI has Voice Mode for Grok. Each lets users interact with bots by speaking instead of typing, making conversations feel more natural and intuitive.
With Anthropic’s flavor of voice mode, users can chat about things like documents and images, and choose from five distinct voice options. Users can also switch between text and voice on the fly, and see a transcript and summary following conversations.
The capability has certain limits. Voice conversations count toward regular usage caps — Anthropic says that 20-30 conversations is what most free users can expect. Moreover, only paid Claude subscribers can take advantage of a Google Workspace connector that allows voice mode to access Google Calendar appointments and Gmail emails (Google Docs integration is exclusive to Claude Enterprise plans).
Anthropic CPO Mike Krieger confirmed the company was working on voice capabilities for Claude in an interview with the Financial Times in early March. According to the report, Anthropic was holding talks with Amazon, the company’s major investor and partner, and voice-focused AI startup ElevenLabs, to possibly drive future voice features for Claude.
