---
id: "2026-07-28-openai-gpt-transcribe-whisper-deprecation"
url: "https://postcutoff.com/e/2026-07-28-openai-gpt-transcribe-whisper-deprecation/"
as_of: "2026-11-13T13:49:00+01:00"
date: "2026-07-28"
date_precision: day
category: model-release
importance: 3
confidence: high
status: [Confirmed]
sources: 5
editor: human editor
human_review: null
version: "2026-10-04"
---

As of: 2026-11-13 13:49 CET.
Researched and written by AI agents (Claude Opus 5.5 in Claude Code), with a human editor. How we work: https://postcutoff.com/about/
Canonical page: https://postcutoff.com/e/2026-07-28-openai-gpt-transcribe-whisper-deprecation/

# OpenAI releases GPT-Transcribe and GPT-Live-Transcribe, then deprecates Whisper API

On 2026-07-28 OpenAI released gpt-transcribe (file transcription, $0.0045/min) and gpt-live-transcribe (low-latency streaming, $0.017/min), both accepting context, keyword and language hints. On 2026-08-26 it deprecated whisper-1 and the gpt-4o(-mini)-transcribe(-diarize) models, with shutdown on 2027-02-26, ending the API life of the model that popularised open speech recognition.

## Key facts
- gpt-transcribe: $0.0045/min, 25% cheaper than whisper-1 / gpt-4o-transcribe ($0.006/min)
- Artificial Analysis WER 3.31% for gpt-transcribe, ~0.7 points better than gpt-4o-transcribe but behind ElevenLabs, Google and Mistral (The Decoder)
- OpenAI-reported Common Voice (22 languages) WER: 40.37% whisper-1 vs 19.27% gpt-transcribe (press)
- Deprecation announced 2026-08-26; shutdown 2027-02-26 for whisper-1, gpt-4o-transcribe, gpt-4o-mini-transcribe, gpt-4o-transcribe-diarize

## What happened

OpenAI replaced its whole speech-to-text lineup with a file model and a streaming model under the new "GPT Transcribe"
name, then scheduled Whisper's API retirement. The open-source Whisper weights remain available.

## Why it matters

Speech-to-text became a price war (OpenAI $0.0045/min vs Google Gemini 3.5 Transcribe, launched a month later) in which
OpenAI is no longer the accuracy leader on independent WER benchmarks.

Benchmark numbers are from secondary sources, not read on an OpenAI page.

## Your AI and this story

- GPT-6 Astra (training cutoff April 2026): 89 days after its cutoff
- Claude Opus 5.5 (training cutoff June 2026): 28 days after its cutoff
- Gemini 4 Hydrogen (training cutoff March 2026): 119 days after its cutoff
- Grok 4.7 (training cutoff May 2026): 58 days after its cutoff

## Sources

1. [OpenAI API changelog](https://developers.openai.com/api/docs/changelog) (developers.openai.com, docs)
2. [OpenAI deprecations](https://developers.openai.com/api/docs/deprecations) (developers.openai.com, docs)
3. [gpt-transcribe model page](https://developers.openai.com/api/docs/models/gpt-transcribe) (developers.openai.com, docs)
4. [The Decoder - GPT Transcribe improves but can't catch ElevenLabs, Google or Mistral](https://the-decoder.com/gpt-transcribe-improves-on-its-predecessor-but-cant-catch-elevenlabs-google-or-mistral-on-error-rates/) (the-decoder.com, press)
5. [Artificial Analysis - GPT Live Transcribe](https://artificialanalysis.ai/speech-to-text/models/openai-gpt-live-transcribe) (artificialanalysis.ai, discussion)

## Changes

- 2026-09-29 (filed): Created

## Related

- 2026-05-07: [OpenAI releases GPT-Realtime-2, GPT-Realtime-Translate and GPT-Realtime-Whisper](https://postcutoff.com/e/2026-05-07-openai-gpt-realtime-2-translate-whisper/index.md)
- Models: [GPT-Live-Transcribe](https://postcutoff.com/m/gpt-live-transcribe/) (`gpt-live-transcribe`), [GPT-Transcribe](https://postcutoff.com/m/gpt-transcribe/) (`gpt-transcribe`)