OpenAI is putting Google Translate on notice: It now has a dedicated ChatGPT Translate webpage that can convert writing in 50 languages. At first glance, it looks like a basic text-to-text translator that resembles Google Translate and other simple language translation tools on the web. But scrolling down the page reveals more about OpenAI’s ambitions for Translate.

You’ll come across a line that mentions adding voice or an image (for instance, a photo of a sign) to get a translation, although the page doesn’t indicate when those capabilities will become available.

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OpenAI’s breakout of Translate comes as its chief competitor, Google, is aggressively deploying AI to support features such as live translations via headphones and new language-learning tools. In 2024, Google added 110 languages to its translations.

Language translation is a hot field in artificial intelligence. At CES 2026 last week, for instance, CNET’s Macy Meyer tried out a phone-sized device and companion headphones that let her carry on a live conversation with a Polish speaker even though she doesn’t speak Polish herself.

The skills that ChatGPT Translate currently provides are already available in the chatbot itself. In fact, once you translate text on the webpage, ChatGPT offers a set of sample prompts as one-click buttons for what you can do with that text, such as “translate this and make it sound more fluent” or “translate this as if you’re explaining it to a child.”

Selecting one of those prompts takes you to a ChatGPT conversation where options like image uploads are readily available. 

A representative for OpenAI did not comment directly on the new webpage, but said the company is working to make ChatGPT’s language skills “even better,” citing a new standard it uses to help evaluate how AI systems perform across different languages and cultures in India.

(Disclosure: Ziff Davis, CNET’s parent company, in April filed a lawsuit against OpenAI, alleging it infringed Ziff Davis copyrights in training and operating its AI systems.)