OpenAI has officially launched a groundbreaking new feature that fundamentally changes how users interact with ChatGPT. The company announced on November 13, 2025, that it's piloting group chats within ChatGPT, allowing multiple users to collaborate in real-time with both each other and the AI assistant in a single conversation. This marks a significant evolution from ChatGPT being a personal AI companion to becoming a shared collaborative platform.
The feature is currently available as a limited pilot in four markets: Japan, New Zealand, South Korea, and Taiwan. Users across all subscription tiers including ChatGPT Free, Go, Plus, and Pro can access the new functionality on both mobile and web platforms. Unlike typical ChatGPT features that roll out globally, OpenAI is taking a more measured approach with group chats, gathering feedback from early users before expanding to additional regions. This strategic rollout suggests the company recognizes the complexity and potential impact of transforming its chatbot into a multiplayer experience.
Group chats in ChatGPT function similarly to messaging apps like WhatsApp or Slack, but with a crucial difference: ChatGPT itself participates as an active member of the conversation. Users can create a group by tapping the people icon at the top right corner of any chat, then invite up to 20 people by sharing a link. The AI assistant is powered by GPT-5.1 Auto, the latest model that automatically selects the best approach whether instant response or deeper thinking based on the prompt and the subscription tier of the user it's responding to. Interestingly, rate limits only apply when ChatGPT generates responses, meaning users can chat freely with each other without depleting their message quotas.
The practical applications for group chats are diverse and compelling. Friends planning a vacation can collaborate on itineraries, compare destinations, and create packing lists together with ChatGPT's assistance. Families can use it to make group decisions like choosing restaurants that suit everyone's preferences or settling friendly debates. In professional settings, colleagues can draft outlines, research topics collaboratively, or organize information from shared articles and notes. Students working on group projects can use it to summarize research materials and coordinate their work. The feature essentially positions ChatGPT as a productivity tool that bridges personal communication and AI assistance.
OpenAI has implemented several thoughtful design choices to address privacy and social dynamics. Personal ChatGPT memory the customized knowledge the AI builds from individual interactions is completely isolated from group chats. The AI doesn't use personal memories in group conversations, nor does it create new memories from them. When someone joins an existing chat, ChatGPT creates a copy as a new group chat, keeping the original conversation separate. Users set up short profiles with names, usernames, and photos so everyone knows who's in the conversation. The AI has also been trained with social awareness: it can react with emojis, understands conversational flow to know when to respond or stay silent, and can even incorporate users' profile photos into generated images when requested.
This launch represents OpenAI's direct challenge to established collaboration platforms like Slack, Microsoft Teams, Notion, and Google Workspace. Notably, Microsoft which is OpenAI's largest investor but also a competitor introduced a similar group chat feature in its Copilot AI assistant just last month. The timing suggests an intensifying race among tech giants to make AI assistants central to how teams and groups communicate and work together. By transforming from a single-user tool into a shared workspace, ChatGPT is venturing into territory that could reshape entire categories of productivity software. If successful, this could accelerate the shift from traditional app-based workflows to AI-agent-centric collaboration, where the boundaries between communication tools and intelligent assistants blur entirely.
