What is Whisper?
Whisper is OpenAI's open-source automatic speech recognition (ASR) model, released in 2022. It supports multilingual transcription and is widely used for accented speech, technical terminology, and noisy environments.
Whisper comes in multiple sizes and variants. Larger models can improve accuracy but require more compute, while turbo variants are designed to improve the speed and accuracy tradeoff.
OpenAI Whisper API vs Groq Whisper
OpenAI hosts Whisper through its API. Groq hosts whisper-large-v3-turbo on its custom LPU (Language Processing Unit) infrastructure. End-to-end performance still depends on the selected model, audio length, network, provider load, and any cleanup the app adds.
| Dimension | OpenAI Whisper API | Groq Whisper (large-v3-turbo) |
|---|---|---|
| Latency | Varies by model, audio, network, and load | Designed for low-latency inference; actual timing varies |
| Model | OpenAI-managed Whisper model | whisper-large-v3-turbo |
| Accuracy | Test with your language and audio | Test with your language and audio |
| Infrastructure | Provider-managed | Groq LPU |
| Streaming | No | No |
| Language support | Model and provider dependent | Model and provider dependent |
| Pricing | Check current provider pricing | Check current provider pricing |
Why latency matters for dictation
A noticeable pause after you stop speaking can break your train of thought. The useful measurement starts when you stop speaking and ends when clean text is ready to use.
On iPhone and Android, tap Mic, speak, then tap Stop. The useful latency begins when you tap Stop and ends when the cleaned text is ready to review.
AiType uses Groq-hosted Whisper because low-latency transcription helps keep that complete workflow responsive. AiType typically completes transcription and AI cleanup in about 250 ms. Actual timing varies by device, connection, language, and text length.
What about local / on-device Whisper?
You can also run Whisper locally with tools such as whisper.cpp. Local processing can keep audio on the device, but speed, battery use, and model quality depend on the hardware and model. AiType currently uses cloud transcription and adds a separate AI cleanup pass.
Why AiType uses Groq
- Speed: AiType typically completes transcription and cleanup in about 250 ms.
- Model: whisper-large-v3-turbo is designed for a practical speed and accuracy balance.
- Cost efficiency: Groq's pricing allows AiType to keep subscription costs reasonable while providing fast service.
- Operational fit: Groq gives AiType a managed transcription path across Mac, Windows, iPhone, and Android.
The bottom line
Whisper is the model, and Groq is the inference platform AiType uses to run it. The product typically completes transcription and cleanup in about 250 ms, but your result will vary with the full workflow.
Test AiType's dictation workflow
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