After what was apparently a successful testing period, OpenAI has announced that it is rolling out group chats in ChatGPT to “all logged-in users on ChatGPT Free, Go, Plus and Pro plans globally over the coming days.” The company first started testing a way to collaborate with peers directly inside ChatGPT around a week ago in Japan, New Zealand, South Korea and Taiwan.
Once you start a chat in ChatGPT you can invite other people to join (up to 20 in a chat), either with their existing ChatGPT account, or one they make after clicking the invite link. Beyond being able to prompt ChatGPT together and react to each other’s messages, the features of group chats appear to be deliberately limited. OpenAI says that the content of group chats aren’t stored in ChatGPT’s memory, and any person can be removed from a chat by any person, save for the creator.
OpenAI was reportedly working on its own version of a text-based social media feed in April. That X competitor has yet to materialize, but the company has brushed up against social features in other ways.
For example, the Sora app that OpenAI launched in September competes directly with TikTok in terms of form and its ability to provide passive entertainment. Group chats in ChatGPT might not replace an app like Messenger, but it does offer a similar AI messaging experience to what Meta’s been playing with in Instagram, and its using a chatbot the average person likes a lot more.
