OpenAI says it trained ChatGPT to determine when to jump into your conversation and when to stay silent. Credit: OpenAI
ChatGPT Gets a Social Upgrade
OpenAI is giving ChatGPT a major new skill: the ability to join group conversations. The company has begun a global rollout of group chats, allowing users to bring up to 20 people into the same AI-powered discussion. The feature follows a brief pilot earlier this month and is now live for all logged-in users.
A New Way to Collaborate
OpenAI describes group chats as a tool for teamwork, planning and shared creativity. You can use it to organise events, shape travel itineraries, brainstorm projects or draft outlines — all while ChatGPT listens, responds and keeps the conversation moving.
To start a group chat, users can tap the “people” icon in the top-right corner of the ChatGPT interface. The app then duplicates the current conversation into a new group space. You can invite others by sharing a link, and those participants can pass the link along to more people.
The first time you join or create a group chat, ChatGPT prompts you to set a name, username and profile photo. These visual cues help everyone keep track of who’s speaking, which becomes important as the chat grows.
Smarter Participation From ChatGPT
OpenAI says it trained ChatGPT to follow the rhythm of human conversations. The AI will decide when to respond and when to stay silent, stepping in only when it feels helpful. Users can also summon it directly by tagging “ChatGPT” in a message.
In group discussions, the AI can react to messages with emoji, refer to participants’ profile photos and even generate personalised images when asked. It behaves more like a quiet member of the group rather than a constant narrator.
Custom Controls and Privacy Measures
All group chat settings sit in the top-right menu. Users can add or remove participants, mute notifications and customise ChatGPT’s behaviour through specific instructions.
OpenAI emphasizes that group chats operate separately from personal conversations. The AI will not use your private chat memories inside group discussions, and it won’t create new memories based on what happens in shared spaces. This separation is meant to protect privacy and avoid cross-chat confusion.
Powered by GPT-5.1 Auto
Responses in group chats use GPT-5.1 Auto, a system that automatically selects the best model available to the user based on the prompt. Rate limits apply only when ChatGPT sends a message — not when humans chat among themselves.
A Step Toward Social AI
The addition of group chats signals a shift in how conversational AI fits into daily communication. Instead of one-on-one interactions, ChatGPT is evolving into a collaborative participant that can help multiple people at once. It can plan, clarify, generate content and inject ideas — all within a shared digital room.
With the feature now fully released worldwide, OpenAI is positioning ChatGPT as a tool not just for personal use, but for group work, collective planning and real-time creativity.
