OpenAI is transforming how individuals engage with AI by launching group chats in ChatGPT, a new shared experience aimed at friends, families, and teams. Currently in pilot mode across Japan, New Zealand, South Korea, and Taiwan, this feature represents the company’s initial significant move towards multi-user collaboration within ChatGPT. The concept is straightforward: rather than having a solitary interaction with AI, users can now invite others into a single chat and collaborate with ChatGPT providing assistance, structure, or even light commentary as needed.
OpenAI explained, “With group chats, you can bring friends, family, or coworkers into a shared space to plan, make decisions, or work through ideas together.” This offering is intended to rival collaboration tools introduced by competing AI platforms while seamlessly integrating into ChatGPT’s familiar interface. Initiating a group is simple. Users can tap the new people icon in the app, creating a shareable link that allows anyone with a ChatGPT account—whether free or paid—to participate. Each group can accommodate up to 20 members, facilitating a range of activities from project planning to engaging family discussions. Notably, if users opt to transform an existing one-on-one chat into a group, ChatGPT automatically generates a duplicate thread, preserving the original private conversation.
Participants can personalize their identity within the group by selecting a name, username, and photo, which helps track contributions, especially in larger or more dynamic conversations. Group chats are also organized in a dedicated sidebar section, enabling users to revisit them as needed. OpenAI has adjusted ChatGPT’s behavior for group interactions. Instead of replying to every message, the AI now observes the dialogue and interjects only when suitable. Users can still call upon it by tagging, creating an experience similar to a composed team member who waits for the right moment to provide input. Additionally, ChatGPT supports emoji reactions in these discussions, adding a subtle layer of expression to the interactions.
Group creators have the ability to manage participants, and anyone can rename the chat or mute notifications—a vital feature for overly chatty groups. Each chat can have custom instructions, allowing ChatGPT to maintain a formal tone in professional groups while adopting a more casual demeanor in relaxed settings. Behind the scenes, group chats are powered by GPT-5.1 Auto, which automatically selects the most capable model available to each participant based on their subscription level. This ensures that even within the same conversation, users receive responses tailored to their account type. Most major ChatGPT functionalities remain available in group settings, including web search, image uploads, file sharing, dictation, and image generation.
This allows teams to brainstorm ideas, gather data, design visuals, or plan trips without switching applications. OpenAI highlights its commitment to privacy, indicating that private memory does not apply to group chats, and content shared within them will not be stored. Any participant can exit at any time, and if a minor joins, sensitive content filters are automatically activated for all. Although still in early testing, OpenAI’s group chats indicate a new direction for AI—one that merges collaboration, conversation, and creativity into a shared digital environment.
