With its new partnership, Germany-based Bragi will let third-party headphone and other audio product makers integrate a GPT-based assistant, accessible via a button press or wake word. Here are the details.
A GPT-4.1-based assistant in your ear
Since 2019, when Bragi pivoted from the headphone manufacturing business to licensing its technology, it’s been working with brands like Bose to help third-party vendors develop headphones with features that rival leading brands and competitors.
Bragi today announced ChatAI, an app built in partnership with OpenAI that will enable headphone makers to offer a GPT-4.1-powered assistant. The generative AI assistant will allow users to take notes, answer questions, and access information on the go.
Bragi tells me that in order to minimize the risk of inadvertently picking up and processing chatter around the user, ChatAI learns to identify who’s speaking. They are also working with Apple for an MFi certification, which will enable background communication and make the experience more seamless on iOS devices.
To make the most out of the interaction, Bragi says that once the user activates the headphone assistant, a multimodal local model in the ChatAI app processes the request, formatting it in just the right way to upload it to OpenAI, and sends it to OpenAI. The GPT-4.1 model then generates a response, which is read aloud by the assistant through the headphones.
Privacy-wise, Bragi says that its servers never receive user data, and even the local data isn’t stored in the app once the request gets sent out to OpenAI.
Bragi says its new system will also allow partners to build on top of ChatAI to offer branded experiences, and even agentic features, such as learning from user habits and proactively adjusting EQ settings based on context and personal preferences.
During the initial rollout, ChatAI will support English, German, French, Spanish, and Chinese, with more languages planned for the future.
AI features hit differently, depending on where you’re from
And speaking of languages, Bragi tells me that users in different regions tend to use AI-based features differently. In China, for instance, users rely more heavily on translation tools, often using them as a second-layer interpreter during meetings, whereas in other parts of the world, usage tends to be more varied.
And when it comes to public interest in AI-enabled headphones, Bragi has shared the results of a survey that shows that 89% of consumers are willing to pay an average of $25 more for AI-enabled headphones, which would raise the average headphones price to between $135 and $160.
Bragi says that the new ChatAI app will be made available this summer, but told me it would be up to the brands to announce their adoption of the new system.
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