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Tuesday, 15th September 2026

Tool Gemini Live audio

Google released Gemini 3.8 Live and 3.8 Live Extended Thinking today - two new speech-to-speech models that are a similar shape to OpenAI's GPT-Live family.

I pointed GPT-6 Astra Extra High at the documentation and had it build me this web UI for trying out the new models. You can select a model and voice preset, enter an optional system prompt and then start a voice conversation through your browser, including the ability to interrupt the model while it is talking.

Screenshot of a voice chat web interface with a transcript. Top buttons: Start session, End session, Mute mic, plus a Mic level meter and a timer showing 0:33. Status: Listening. Use headphones to reduce echo. Starting a session asks for microphone access. Transcript (with Download transcript and Clear buttons). Gemini: Yes, it's working perfectly. I can hear you clearly. How can I help you today? You: Okay, this is pretty good. Tell me some interesting facts about the California brown pelican. Gemini: They're famous for their spectacular plunge-dives to catch fish and have huge throat pouches that can hold up to three gallons of water and fish. They also made a great recovery after being endangered — marked as Interrupted. You: No, tell me different facts actually. Gemini: They nest in colonies on offshore islands and can hold up to three gallons of water in their throat pouches. At the bottom is a text input reading Or type a message… with a Send button, and the note: Sending a message interrupts the current response. Transcripts may include speech interrupted before playback.

The implementation uses no libraries. It connects to the wss://generativelanguage.googleapis.com/ws/google.ai.generativelanguage.v1alpha.GenerativeService.BidiGenerateContent?key=... WebSocket endpoint and uses a Web Audio API AudioContext for both capture and playback.

Here's the Gemini Live tutorial for getting started with that WebSockets API.

15th Sep 2026, 10:47 pm · google, tools, websockets, generative-ai, llms, gemini, llm-release, speech-to-text
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