For years, using an advanced AI like ChatGPT has been a mostly solitary affair—you asked a question, and the model delivered an answer just for you. But collaboration often requires more than a single opinion. Now, OpenAI is changing the dynamic by piloting a feature that brings ChatGPT directly into a shared space with friends, family, or colleagues.
Think of it as turning your digital whiteboard into a brainstorming session where the AI is an active, context-aware participant.
ChatGPT Group Chats are here: Collaborative AI joins your planning sessions
The new group chats allow up to 20 people to gather in a shared space to work through ideas. Whether you are planning a weekend trip with friends, designing a garden layout with a partner, or drafting an outline with coworkers, ChatGPT can help keep the conversation productive. For example, the bot can instantly compare travel destinations or build an itinerary. It also could organize notes and articles shared by the group members.
Starting a chat is simple. You just have to tap the people icon in the corner of any conversation and invite people via a shareable link. OpenAI built this feature with privacy in mind; if you start from an existing chat, the system creates a copy, ensuring your original, private conversation history stays completely separate. Plus, your personal ChatGPT memory is never used or shared within the group.
The socially intelligent assistant
OpenAI gave the model—powered by GPT-5.1 Auto—new “social behaviors” specifically for these group scenarios. This is perhaps the most interesting technical detail. The AI follows the flow of the human conversation, deciding when to respond and when to stay quiet based on the context. If you want a specific response or input, simply mention “ChatGPT” in your message to summon its attention.
The bot can even use custom instructions set by the group creator. This allows the team to tailor the AI’s personality or focus for a specific project. It can also react to messages with emojis or reference participant profile photos, making it feel less like a “clinical” tool and more like an integrated team member.
This pilot feature is currently only rolling out in select regions. The list includes countries like Japan, New Zealand, South Korea, and Taiwan. Users of all tiers—including the free tier—in those regions can use it. Let’s hope that it won’t take long for the company to expand the feature’s availability to more markets.
