Claude Code adds voice mode.
Anthropic is introducing Voice Mode for Claude Code, its AI coding assistant designed for developers. This update marks a notable move toward more hands-free, conversational coding workflows.
Thariq Shihipar, an Anthropic engineer, announced the feature’s gradual rollout on X this Tuesday. He noted that voice mode is currently live for roughly 5% of users, with a wider rollout planned over the next several weeks.
Voice mode aims to simplify the coding process by letting users control Claude Code with spoken commands. To enable it, type /voice to turn it on, then speak your instruction and Claude Code will carry it out—for example, “refactor the authentication middleware.”
The rollout is underway for Claude Code. It’s available to about 5% of users today and will expand in the weeks ahead.
You’ll see a welcome-screen note once you have access. Use /voice to enable it! pic.twitter.com/P7GQ6pEANy
— Thariq (@trq212) March 3, 2026
Details about the feature’s limits remain unclear. It’s not yet known whether there are caps on voice interactions or any specific technical constraints. It’s also uncertain if a third-party voice provider, such as ElevenLabs, was involved in building this capability, despite prior reports of talks with Anthropic.
TechCrunch reached out for comment but did not receive a response.
Anthropic previously launched Voice Mode for the standard Claude chatbot in May of last year, enabling voice-based interactions for a range of general tasks.
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Competition in AI coding assistants is intense, with players like Microsoft’s GitHub Copilot, Cursor, Google, and OpenAI all jockeying for developers’ attention. Yet Claude Code remains one of the most widely adopted tools on the market. In February, Anthropic stated that Claude Code’s run-rate revenue exceeded $2.5 billion, more than doubling since the start of 2026, and weekly active users had doubled since January.
Meanwhile, Claude’s mobile app has seen a surge in user growth after Anthropic declined to permit the DoD to use its AI for domestic surveillance or autonomous weapons. The app subsequently climbed to the top of the U.S. App Store charts, surpassing ChatGPT in the process.
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