ChatGPT’s New Group Chat Feature Expands Globally
OpenAI has announced the global rollout of group chats in ChatGPT, marking a significant expansion of the AI assistant’s collaborative capabilities. After a successful testing period in Japan, New Zealand, South Korea, and Taiwan, the feature is now becoming available to all logged-in users across ChatGPT Free, Go, Plus, and Pro plans worldwide over the coming days.
The group chat feature fundamentally transforms how people interact with ChatGPT by allowing multiple participants to engage in a single conversation thread alongside the AI. This represents a notable shift from ChatGPT’s traditional one-to-one interaction model toward a more socially integrated platform.
How Group Chats Work
Getting started with ChatGPT group chats is straightforward. Users can initiate a group conversation and invite other people to participate, either through their existing ChatGPT accounts or via a shareable invite link. Up to 20 people can join a single chat.
The implementation includes thoughtful design features for group settings. Each participant sets up a short profile with a name, username, and photo for easy identification. Group chats appear in a dedicated sidebar for quick access, helping users maintain context across multiple conversations. Powered by GPT-5.1 Auto, the feature automatically selects the most appropriate model based on the user’s plan and the specific task.
Features and Functionality
The platform brings familiar ChatGPT tools into the group environment, including search, file uploads, image generation, and voice dictation capabilities. OpenAI has notably trained the AI to understand group dynamics, allowing ChatGPT to intelligently “listen” to conversations and respond when appropriate while staying quiet to avoid disrupting natural discussions.
Participants can react to messages with emojis, and the AI can use profile photos when generating images, adding a personal dimension to group interactions. Importantly, rate limits apply only to ChatGPT’s responses—not to human messages—enabling conversations to flow naturally without message restrictions.
Privacy and Control
OpenAI has implemented privacy safeguards for group conversations. The content of group chats is not stored in ChatGPT’s memory, meaning personal data remains protected. Additionally, any participant can remove themselves or others from a chat, except for the chat creator who cannot be removed.
Real-World Applications
The group chat feature is designed for practical collaboration scenarios. Whether organizing group dinners, planning trips, drafting outlines with coworkers, brainstorming ideas, or coordinating projects, ChatGPT can help streamline these discussions. The AI can assist with generating itineraries, splitting responsibilities among team members, and maintaining shared context so everyone remains on the same page.
Strategic Significance
This rollout signals OpenAI’s broader strategic direction toward integrating AI more deeply into social and collaborative contexts. Rather than functioning as a background tool, ChatGPT is increasingly positioned as an active participant in human interactions and team coordination.
For teams, friend groups, and collaborative environments, the feature addresses the common friction points of group coordination—overlapping messages, confusion, and duplicated information—by introducing AI-powered assistance directly into the conversation. If successful, group chats could reshape how teams collaborate, how friends plan events together, and how people brainstorm collectively, all with AI as a true collaborative partner.
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