OpenAI has launched a new group chat feature in its ChatGPT app, allowing users to interact with friends, family, or coworkers in a shared AI-assisted space. The feature is the company’s first collaboration tool for end users. Currently, it is being rolled out in Japan, New Zealand, South Korea, and Taiwan, with plans to expand based on user feedback.
Group chats let users create a space for up to 20 people. Anyone logged in to ChatGPT—whether a free user or a paid subscriber—can join via a shared link. Users can also turn an existing conversation into a group chat, which creates a copy of the chat so the original conversation remains separate. When joining, users set up a profile with their name, username, and photo to make messages easily identifiable. All active group chats appear in the app sidebar for easy access.
ChatGPT behaves differently in group chats compared to one-on-one chats. It follows the flow of the conversation and responds contextually when mentioned, while staying silent at other times. Users can also control ChatGPT’s behaviour by setting custom instructions for each group chat, independent of the main app settings. The group creator can add or remove participants, and members can rename the chat or mute notifications. ChatGPT can react to messages with emojis and reference profile photos.
Responses in group chats are powered by GPT-5.1 Auto, which chooses the most suitable AI model based on the prompt and subscription level. Features such as web search, image and file uploads, image generation, and dictation are available.
For privacy, group chats do not use the personal ChatGPT memory of any participant, and no new memory is created from shared conversations. Members can leave or remove others at any time, except for the group creator. If someone under 18 joins, content filters activate automatically. Parents can also disable group chats entirely through parental controls.
OpenAI describes group chats as a tool for planning, brainstorming, or simply having AI-assisted conversations with multiple users at once. This launch marks a major step toward making ChatGPT a more social and collaborative platform for everyone.
