OpenAI Rolling Out Projects in ChatGPT, a New Feature That Takes on Google’s NotebookLM

OpenAI rolled out a new artificial intelligence (AI) feature for ChatGPT on Friday. The new feature, dubbed Projects in ChatGPT or just Projects, allows users to create specific chat folders where they can ask questions about the same topic or about topics with the same context. With the ability to add files in Projects, the feature is similar to Google's NotebookLM. The AI firm highlighted that while the paid subscribers of the chatbot will get the feature in the next few days, Edu and Enterprise users will get it by January 2025.

Projects in ChatGPT Rolling Out to Paid Subscribers

On day seven of the company's 12-day shipping schedule, Projects in ChatGPT was released. The feature was announced during a live stream and was later posted by the AI firm's official handle on X (formerly known as Twitter). Currently, the feature is available to ChatGPT Plus, Pro, and Team users globally. Free users will also get this feature eventually, but OpenAI did not mention any release date for it.

On the surface, Projects can be understood as an organising tool that allows users to segregate chats by topics. This is useful when a user asks frequent questions about the same topic and does not wish to add full context every time. For instance, users can create a Project titled “Research Assignment” and tell the chatbot to respond to queries as an expert in the field. This way, they do not have to repeat the instructions as long as they use the same Project.

However, the feature can also be a very useful research tool with its Google NotebookLM-like capabilities. Just like Google's platform, Projects also allows users to add files. Once added, every response by ChatGPT keeps the context of the documents in mind. Users can also use this capability to ask questions about a large document or research paper.

Projects in ChatGPT
Photo Credit: X/OpenAI

The feature, once available, will show on the left margin of ChatGPT's Web interface and desktop app. The feature is currently not available on the ChatGPT app on Android and iOS. Titled Projects, users can tap on the ‘+' icon next to the header to create a new folder. These folders are customisable and users can add preferred titles, emojis, and even change the folder colour.

Once done, users can either add custom instructions or upload files to ground the chatbot's responses. The interface also shows the previous chats of the user for easy access. Additionally, users can also access the ChatGPT Search and Canvas feature within Projects. Once a folder is created, it will show up under the Projects header on the left margin.