- Apple added two new Siri voices removing Siri's female voice as its default, TechCrunch reported.
- This comes as part of Apple's commitment to diversity and inclusion, according to TechCrunch.
- The UN previously criticized Apple, Google, and Amazon, for setting their virtual assistants to female voices.
- See more stories on Insider's business page.
Apple's voice assisitant Siri will no longer default to a female voice, TechCrunch reported on Wednesday.
The tech giant added two new Siri voices to its English offerings that users can select from as they set up the virtual assistant as part of the release of iOS 14.5 beta 6, according to TechCrunch.
Siri currently defaults to a female voice in the US and a male voice in the UK, according to CNN. It also comes in six different accents: American, Indian, British, South African, Irish, and Australian.
"This is a continuation of Apple's long-standing commitment to diversity and inclusion, and products and services that are designed to better reflect the diversity of the world we live in," a statement from Apple cited by TechCrunch read.
Apple didn't immediately respond to Insider's request for comments.
Here is what the newly added voices will sound like:
-John Gruber (@gruber) April 1, 2021
A UN study criticized defaulting the voices of virtual assistant, like Siri, Alexa, Google Assistant, to female voices. The 2019 study said it promoted "harmful gender biases" and perpetuated the bias that women are there to be "assistants."
Apple owners using Siri can control their devices per a growing list of commands and supports 21 languages, according to TechCrunch.
