chore: require Python 3.11+

[MLawlz]

Summary

Python 3.8 and 3.9 are end-of-life, and 3.10 reaches end-of-life in October 2026. This makes 3.11 the minimum supported version.

• Packaging: python_requires=">=3.11", and the classifiers list only 3.11–3.14.
• CI: the test matrix is now 3.11–3.14. 3.13 and 3.14 were already listed as supported but never tested. The mypy job moves from 3.9 to 3.11, and the PyPI build moves from 3.8 to 3.11.
• tox: the latest envs are py311–py314. The dependency-floor envs already ran on 3.11 and are unchanged.
• CLAUDE.md: the minimum Python is now 3.11+.
• Version: 1.6.0 → 1.7.0.

No SDK code changes are needed: the suite already passes on 3.11–3.14.

Effect on users

pip on 3.10 or older skips this release and installs the newest release whose Requires-Python still allows their interpreter (1.5.5 today, or 1.6.0 if that is tagged first). Their installs keep working; they stop getting updates. For that reason this is a minor bump rather than a major one.

3.8 has not worked since 0.38.0. assemblyai/types.py imports typing.Annotated, which needs 3.9, so import assemblyai fails on 3.8. Nothing caught it because #112 removed 3.8 from CI the same day.

Testing

• The full suite (718 tests) passes locally on 3.11, 3.12, 3.13 and 3.14.
• Built the sdist and wheel on 3.11, as publish.yml now does. Both carry Requires-Python: >=3.11.
• With pip 24.0, the version CI pins through VIRTUALENV_PIP, the wheel installs on 3.11, 3.13 and 3.14. On 3.10 it is rejected: requires a different Python: 3.10.21 not in '>=3.11'.
• tox -l lists the py311–py314 latest envs plus the four py311 floor envs.

Follow-up

The public docs still say "Python 3.8+" on several SDK pages (the pre-recorded, streaming, Sync STT and dictation quickstarts). They should change when this release ships.

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