OpenAI Launches GPT-Transcribe and GPT-Live-Transcribe Speech Transcription Models

OpenAI has introduced two new speech transcription models in the API: GPT-Transcribe for asynchronous batch processing and GPT-Live-Transcribe for low-latency real-time transcription. Official and third-party benchmarks show significant improvements over Whisper-1 in multilingual and context-aware scenarios, with batch pricing reduced to $4.5 per 1k minutes, marking a dual breakthrough in accuracy and cost-effectiveness.

Confirmed

• OpenAI launched two models: GPT-Live-Transcribe for low-latency real-time transcription and GPT-Transcribe for async batch transcription.
• On Common Voice across 22 languages, GPT-Transcribe significantly outperforms Whisper-1.
• On Context Aware ASR, adding free-form context improves GPT-Transcribe's semantic accuracy from 41.6% to 45.2%.
• On Context Aware Automatic Speech Recognition, providing context boosts real-time transcription accuracy to 44.6%.
• Per @reachvb, GPT-Live-Transcribe's error rate dropped to 9.60% (from 11.65%, an 18% reduction).
• Per @ArtificialAnlys, GPT-Transcribe achieved 3.31% AA-WER, 0.7 points better than GPT-4o Transcribe, with batch pricing at $4.5 per 1k minutes.
• Per @xiaohu, gpt-transcribe has a word error rate of 8.98% on real recording benchmarks.
• Developers can improve real-time transcription using four context types: free-text background description, keywords (names/domain terms), expected input language, and previous transcribed turns.

Why it matters

• The new models demonstrate OpenAI's strategy to break accuracy bottlenecks via enhanced context understanding while significantly lowering costs, offering developers a more powerful and economical alternative to Whisper.

2026-07-29 ~ 2026-07-30 · 16 related posts

• [source] OpenAI adds GPT-Live-Transcribe and GPT-Transcribe to its API — OpenAIDevs · 2026-07-29
• GPT-Transcribe halves Whisper’s error rate on real-world audio benchmarks — OpenAIDevs · 2026-07-29
• OpenAI’s transcription docs repeat GPT-Transcribe’s benchmark gains over Whisper — OpenAIDevs · 2026-07-29
• OpenAI says context lifts GPT-Live-Transcribe accuracy to 44.6% on a new ASR benchmark — OpenAIDevs · 2026-07-29
• OpenAI Launches GPT Live Transcribe and GPT Transcribe with Up to 41% Lower Error Rates — reach_vb · 2026-07-29
• OpenAI releases GPT Transcribe, cutting speech-to-text price 25% to $4.50 per 1,000 minutes — ArtificialAnlys · 2026-07-29
• OpenAI ships gpt-transcribe and gpt-live-transcribe with 8.98% WER and lower pricing — xiaohu · 2026-07-29

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