Building Conversational AI Applications with Twilio and the OpenAI Realtime API

Build Conversational AI Apps with Twilio and the OpenAI Realtime API

Today, we announced an integration in collaboration with OpenAI, bringing their new Realtime API together with Twilio's platform. The integration of streaming speech-to-speech (S2S) capabilities – part of their API release today – will enable over 300,000 Twilio customers and more than 10 million developers to build powerful conversational AI applications leveraging OpenAI's flagship multilingual and multimodal GPT-4o model.

We're so excited for our friends at OpenAI's launch and thrilled to share these tutorials, sample applications, and integrations so you can start bringing human-like conversational AI experiences to life .

Integrating Twilio's APIs and OpenAI's Realtime API

Ready to dive in? We have a variety of resources to get you started, including a video tutorial showing how to build an AI Voice Assistant in Node.js and Python.

Node.js:

Here are all of the tutorials, sample apps, and repositories showing how to build with Twilio APIs and the OpenAI Realtime API we have available:

Tutorials

In these tutorials, learn how to integrate OpenAI's Realtime API with Twilio Voice to build a GenAI-powered virtual agent using Media Streams.

• Build an AI Voice Assistant with Twilio Voice, the OpenAI Realtime API, and Node.js
• Build an AI Voice Assistant with Twilio Voice, the OpenAI Realtime API, and Python
• Outbound Calling with Twilio Voice, the OpenAI Realtime API, and Node.js
• Outbound Calling with Twilio Voice, the OpenAI Realtime API, and Python
• Minimalist Integration of Twilio Voice, Media Streams, and the OpenAI Realtime API in Typescript

Sample apps

Over on Code Exchange, we have two sample applications for you to check out using the OpenAI Realtime API – our Flex integration, demonstrating how OpenAI's Realtime API might be used to translate between a caller and an agent, and our Voice and Media Streams demo.

• Live Translation
• AI Voice Assistant

Integration repos

Into the whole brevity thing? You can access our repos demonstrating the integrations directly here:

• Live Translation with Twilio and OpenAI Realtime Repo
• Real-time AI Voice Assistant with Twilio Voice, the OpenAI Realtime API, and Node.js Repo
• Real-time AI Voice Assistant with Twilio Voice, the OpenAI Realtime API, and Python Repo

Streams

• Playing with the OpenAI Realtime API + Twilio – See a Node.js integration, voice changes, and interruption logic.

Get started today

We're excited to be on this journey with OpenAI, helping to unlock the full potential of this new technology for our customers. GenAI-powered (and personalized) virtual agents promise much better customer experiences, increased efficiencies for business, and better outcomes for all.

The world of "conversational AI" is moving at an incredible pace, and this is just the beginning. We have a lot more solutions coming in this space – stay tuned.

We can’t wait to see talk to what you build with Twilio and OpenAI!

Brandon Hawkins is a product manager and former software engineer based in Boulder, Colorado. At Twilio, he's responsible for the Voice Access (SDKs) and Voice Experience (Console) product groups. Outside of work, Brandon enjoys gravel biking, playing guitar, and adventuring in the mountains with his wife and son.

Paul Kamp is the Technical Editor-in-Chief of the Twilio Blog. You can reach him at pkamp [at] twilio.com.