Anthropic engineer Thariq Shihipar announced the gradual rollout of Voice Mode for Claude Code on Tuesday, expanding the AI coding assistant’s capabilities to include hands-free, conversational workflows.
The feature is currently live for approximately 5% of users, with a broader release planned for the coming weeks. This update positions Claude Code to compete more directly with Microsoft’s GitHub Copilot, Cursor, Google, and OpenAI in the rapidly growing developer tools market.
In February, Anthropic reported that Claude Code’s run-rate revenue surpassed $2.5 billion, representing a doubling of revenue since the beginning of 2026. Weekly active users for the coding assistant have also doubled since January, indicating significant growth and adoption.
To enable Voice Mode, users can type /voice to toggle the system on. Once activated, users can speak commands such as “refactor the authentication middleware” to execute coding requests. Anthropic initially launched Voice Mode for its standard Claude chatbot in May 2025.
The limitations of the new capability remain unclear, and it is unknown if the feature uses a third-party AI voice provider like ElevenLabs. Anthropic has not yet responded to requests for comment from TechCrunch.
Claude Code operates in a competitive landscape alongside Microsoft’s GitHub Copilot, Cursor, Google, and OpenAI. Recently, Claude’s mobile app surged to the top of the U.S. App Store charts following Anthropic’s refusal to allow the Department of Defense to use its AI for domestic surveillance or autonomous weapons.
