Google, OpenAI, and Microsoft are actively investing in technologies that enable communication with AI agents via voice, banking on the growing popularity of verbal interaction with AI compared to text queries. This field is increasingly referred to as voice AI. Investor interest is confirmed by PitchBook data cited by the Financial Times: voice AI startups raised about $7 billion in the first quarter of 2026—seven times more than in the same period in 2025.
The bet is that spoken language will gradually displace text input as the primary way to interact with AI. Metrics from major market players confirm this trend.
Google Observes Growth in Voice and Visual Queries
According to Google, the number of queries in AI Mode has more than doubled every quarter since the service's launch up until April–May 2026. In the US, voice or images are now used in more than every sixth search query, and image-based requests are growing by over 40% per month. The company attributes this trend to users increasingly choosing a communication format closer to natural speech instead of typing.
OpenAI's Bet on Voice
Out of roughly 900 million weekly active ChatGPT users—a figure the company announced in late February 2026—more than 150 million people use voice and dictation to communicate with the service each week.
On July 8, 2026, OpenAI launched its GPT-Live model family: GPT-Live-1 and the lightweight GPT-Live-1 mini. These are full-duplex models capable of simultaneously listening to the interlocutor and responding without the typical 'query-response' pause. They form the foundation of the updated ChatGPT Voice.
Beyond software, OpenAI is also preparing a dedicated hardware device. According to Bloomberg sources, the company is developing a screenless smart speaker with a camera and sensors based on GPT-Live. An announcement is possible as early as 2026, with a market release expected in early 2027.
Microsoft Advances Expressive Speech Synthesis
In June 2026, Microsoft introduced the MAI-Voice-2 model—an expressive speech synthesizer supporting 15 languages and allowing control over the emotional tone of the voice. The technology is already being integrated into the company's products, including Dynamics 365 Contact Center and Azure Voice Live.
Key areas where companies are focusing on voice AI include:
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search and interaction with AI agents through spoken language and images
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full-duplex voice models for more natural dialogue
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dedicated hardware devices for voice interaction
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speech synthesis with emotion control for corporate services
The rise in investments and simultaneous announcements from Google, OpenAI, and Microsoft indicate that voice interfaces are transitioning from experimental features to a standalone direction for AI product development. The further spread of such technologies will depend on how quickly users adopt new interaction methods in everyday scenarios.
AI Opinion
From the perspective of regulatory dynamics, the voice AI boom carries a risk overlooked by investors and developers: the user's trust in the 'humanity' of the interface. While Google, OpenAI, and Microsoft compete in dialogue naturalness, Russian State Duma deputies have already submitted a proposal to the Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS) to oblige voice robots to disclose their nature from the first seconds of a call. The gap between the technological race for the 'presence effect' and regulators' attempts to preserve the boundary between human and machine could become as significant a market factor as investment volume.
A historical pattern suggests caution: voice assistants have already gone through a cycle of inflated expectations during the early versions of Siri and Alexa, when mass adoption did not meet monetization forecasts. The question remains open whether the current wave of full-duplex models will be a real shift in technology perception or just another turn of the same cycle.
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