ChatGPT Group Chats Feature Launched, OpenAI Brings Social Interactions to the AI App

OpenAI released a new feature for its artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot, ChatGPT, on Friday. Dubbed group chats, it is the company's first shared experience for end users. As the name suggests, the feature allows users to create group chats in the AI app and then invite other users to collaborate over a project or just to take the assistance of ChatGPT in everyday conversations. The initial rollout is limited to select locations, but the San Francisco-based AI giant said that, based on early user feedback, it will be expanded to more regions.

Group Chats in ChatGPT Arrive With New Features

In a blog post, the AI giant detailed its first collaboration feature. Describing it, OpenAI said, “With group chats, you can bring friends, family, or coworkers into a shared space to plan, make decisions, or work through ideas together.” It is not a new idea, since Meta AI has been available in group chats since the beginning, and Anthropic has been offering it to users via the Claude Projects feature.

Details of group chats in ChatGPT
Photo Credit: OpenAI

OpenAI's version of a collaboration space between multiple users includes a group chat that can be created by tapping the new people icon in the top right corner of any new or existing chat. The button creates a URL, and it can be shared with other logged-in ChatGPT users (does not matter if a paid subscriber or a free user), who can then click on the link to join the group. A group chat can have between one to 20 users.

In case a user wants a group chat to be made out of an existing conversation, the platform creates a copy of the conversation so that the user can still continue the chat separately. Whenever a user joins or creates a group, they will be asked to set up a profile with their name, username, and a photo. This helps with identification when someone messages in the group chat. After being created, group chats will be listed on the sidebar under a labelled section.

The AI giant says ChatGPT follows new social behaviours when participating in group chats. It is said to follow the flow of the conversation to contextually decide when to respond and when to stay quiet. The chatbot can also be invoked by mentioning it, similar to how users tag each other on social platforms. Interesting, the AI chatbot can also react to messages with emojis and reference profile photos.

Users can further control ChatGPT's behaviour in the group by setting custom instructions. These can be separate for each group chat and do not impact the primary experience of the app. The creator of a group chat can also add or remove participants, while group members can change the chat name and mute notifications.

Under the hood, responses in group chats are powered by GPT-5.1 Auto, which selects the best AI model based on the prompt and the model available to the user. So, if the group has a member with the Pro subscription and another on the free tier, the responses they get from the chatbot will be quite different. Group chats come with features such as web search, image and file upload, image generation, and dictation.

Coming to privacy, OpenAI says the user's personal ChatGPT memory is not used in group chats, and no memory can be created from the shared conversations. Everyone can a member in a group chat, and they can leave at any time. Members can also remove other participants, except the creator. Additionally, if someone under the age of 18 joins a group chat, the platform automatically activates filters for sensitive content for everyone else as well. Parents and guardians can also choose to turn off group chats entirely via parental control.

Currently, OpenAI is starting a pilot of the feature and making it available only in Japan, New Zealand, South Korea, and Taiwan. In those locations, the feature is available to all logged-in users, regardless of their subscription status.