GPT-4o mini Transcribe
GPT-4o mini Transcribe is a speech-to-text model built on the GPT-4o mini architecture, delivering lower word error rates and better language recognition than the original Whisper models at the cost-efficient end of OpenAI's transcription lineup.
import { experimental_transcribe as transcribe } from 'ai';import { gateway } from '@ai-sdk/gateway';import { readFile } from 'node:fs/promises';
const result = await transcribe({ model: gateway.transcriptionModel('openai/gpt-4o-mini-transcribe'), audio: await readFile('audio.mp3'),});Playground
Try out GPT-4o mini Transcribe by OpenAI. Usage is billed to your team at API rates. Free users (those who haven't made a payment) get $5 of credits every 30 days.
GPT-4o mini TranscribeSpeech to text
Record a short clip from your microphone and the model transcribes it to text.
Record a clip to see the transcript here.
Providers
Route requests across multiple providers. Copy a provider slug to set your preference. Visit the docs for more info. Using a provider means you agree to their terms, listed under Legal.
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About GPT-4o mini Transcribe
GPT-4o mini Transcribe launched on March 13, 2024 as part of OpenAI's next-generation audio models for the API. The model builds on the GPT-4o mini architecture and was pretrained on specialized audio-centric datasets. OpenAI used enhanced distillation techniques to transfer knowledge from larger audio models into this smaller one.
Compared to the original Whisper models, GPT-4o mini Transcribe improves word error rate and language recognition. OpenAI attributes the gains to reinforcement learning work and midtraining on diverse, high-quality audio data. The improvements show up most in difficult conditions: accents, noisy environments, and varying speech speeds.
Through AI Gateway, GPT-4o mini Transcribe handles transcription jobs behind the same authentication, observability, and spend controls as your text models. Send audio with the AI SDK's transcribe function and get back the transcript, plus segments and language metadata where available.
What To Consider When Choosing a Provider
- Configuration: Audio support on AI Gateway is in beta. You call GPT-4o mini Transcribe with the AI SDK's
transcribefunction, passing audio as a file buffer, base64 string, or URL. If accuracy on your hardest recordings is the deciding factor, compare results againstgpt-4o-transcribeon your own audio before settling on the mini variant. - Zero Data Retention: AI Gateway does not currently support Zero Data Retention for this model. See the documentation for models that support ZDR.
- Authentication: AI Gateway authenticates requests using an API key or OIDC token. You do not need to manage provider credentials directly.
When to Use GPT-4o mini Transcribe
Best for
- High-volume transcription pipelines: Per-request cost shapes the architecture and the mini rate keeps unit economics workable
- Call and meeting transcription: Accuracy improvements over Whisper-generation models reduce cleanup work downstream
- Difficult audio conditions: Accents, background noise, and varying speech speeds that trip up older models
- Unified gateway workflows: Adding speech input to apps that already route text models through AI Gateway
Consider alternatives when
- Maximum transcription accuracy:
gpt-4o-transcribeis the stronger variant when difficult audio justifies a higher rate - Speech translation needs:
whisper-1handles translation to English and language identification as a multitask model - Live voice conversations: The gpt-realtime family serves speech-to-speech agents rather than transcription jobs
Conclusion
GPT-4o mini Transcribe is a practical default for transcription through AI Gateway: more accurate than Whisper-generation models and priced for volume. Start here for most speech-to-text workloads, and step up to gpt-4o-transcribe when your hardest audio demands it.