Gemini adds audio uploads, outshining ChatGPT on transcription

Google has added audio file uploads to Gemini on the web and mobile, enabling quick transcriptions, concise summaries, and extraction of key details from recordings, positioning the assistant as a practical note‑taking tool for everyday use cases. The update has arrived with a 10‑minute per‑file limit and complements Gemini Live by processing pre‑recorded audio rather than only real‑time voice, improving how workers convert voice memos, lectures, interviews, and meetings into searchable documents. In testing, Gemini has handled sketches and phone conversations with only minor name‑related errors, and the focused execution makes it competitive against ChatGPT’s Whisper‑powered transcription for common workflows in the AI community.

Context and Background

Google frames audio upload as the most‑requested capability for Gemini, with VP Josh Woodward highlighting the feature publicly on 8 September 2025, signalling demand from users who store knowledge in voice notes and need a one‑step pipeline. Unlike previous real‑time interactions, uploads are selected through standard file options and then parsed for summaries, action items, and structured insights, helping teams realise value without external transcription services. Anthropic’s Claude supports audio in developer contexts and Perplexity can extract data from YouTube, but Gemini’s approach targets everyday adoption across an organisation, from classrooms to the contact centre.

Concrete details reinforce the scope: uploads are capped at 10 minutes, free‑tier usage is quota‑bound, and output can simplify language, isolate speaker‑specific comments, generate questions, or build a study guide from a classroom discussion. Pricing for heavy‑volume audio remains within the regular Gemini quota rather than a separate programme, so high‑throughput users must pace processing to optimise reliability across longer backlogs. Against alternatives, the reviewer preferred Gemini’s everyday results to ChatGPT’s Whisper in trials, noting strong extraction of key elements and to‑do lists whilst acknowledging minor transcription errors.

Looking Forward

With Gemini increasingly integrated into Google experiences, a card‑based interface under test, and expanded personalisation, audio uploads look set to deepen adoption in knowledge workflows across the UK tech ecosystem and beyond. Longer limits, clearer pricing for enterprise volume, and controls that address privacy “grey areas” would bring more colour to deployments in regulated industries, where auditability and secure retention are paramount. If executed well, organisations could optimise meeting capture and reduce manual toil, turning unstructured archives into searchable knowledge without switching tools or contexts.

Source Attribution:

Share this article