What are ChatGPT group chats, and how does ChatGPT join a conversation with several people?

Until now, a ChatGPT conversation has always been a private exchange between one person and the AI. If you wanted friends to see an answer, you copied it into another app. Yesterday, Thursday, November 13, 2025, OpenAI started testing a different setup: group chats, where several people and ChatGPT talk in the same thread.

The test is deliberately small. OpenAI calls it a first step and is starting in four places, Japan, New Zealand, South Korea and Taiwan, on the phone apps and the website, for logged-in users on the Free, Go, Plus and Pro plans. It says what it learns from early feedback will decide how and when the feature reaches more regions and plans.

What OpenAI is testing

A group chat looks like an ordinary ChatGPT conversation with more people in it. OpenAI's examples are everyday ones: friends planning a weekend away, roommates choosing art for a new apartment, coworkers drafting an outline together, or a group settling a friendly argument with a neutral referee.

The main rules of the pilot:

That last point matters for mixed groups. Messages between people are free of limits; when ChatGPT answers you, the reply comes out of your plan's allowance.

How ChatGPT behaves in a group

A one-on-one chat is simple: you write, ChatGPT answers. A group is harder, because most messages are people talking to each other. If the AI replied to every line, it would drown the conversation.

OpenAI says it taught ChatGPT some new social behaviors for this setting. It reads the flow of the conversation and decides whether to chime in or stay silent. If you want an answer for sure, mention "ChatGPT" in your message, the way you would tag a colleague. It can also react to messages with emojis, and it can use members' profile photos when someone asks for a playful personalized image of the group.

Each group can have its own custom instructions, standing directions that shape every reply. A family group might ask for short answers and metric units; a study group might ask ChatGPT to explain before giving answers.

Here is how a trip-planning chat might unfold:

1. Maya taps the people icon at the top right of a chat about a beach weekend and shares the invite link with three friends.
2. Because the chat already existed, ChatGPT makes a copy as a new group chat; Maya's original conversation stays private.
3. The friends discuss dates among themselves while ChatGPT stays quiet.
4. Someone writes: "ChatGPT, compare these two towns for a budget of $150 a night and make a shared packing list." ChatGPT answers, and the reply counts against that person's limit.

Privacy and safety rules

Mixing friends, coworkers and an AI raises obvious questions about what each one can see. OpenAI's answers:

• Memory stays out. Your personal ChatGPT memory, the details it remembers about you from past chats, is not used in group chats, and nothing said there is saved as a new memory. OpenAI says it is exploring finer memory controls for groups.
• Separate from private chats. Group chats live apart from your own conversations.
• You stay in control. You must accept an invitation, you can see who is present and you can leave at any time. Members can remove one another, except the creator, who can only leave on their own.
• Teens. If anyone under 18 is in a group, ChatGPT reduces sensitive content for everyone in it. Parents can switch group chats off through parental controls.

Why it matters

ChatGPT has been built around one person and one assistant. Group chats treat it as something closer to a shared space. TechCrunch notes that the pilot follows reports that OpenAI had been testing a messaging-style tool, and sees it as one more step toward a social product, after the Sora video app launched in late September with its own feed and messaging.

For users, the change is practical. Group decisions, such as picking a restaurant, splitting tasks or agreeing on a plan, often stall because information is scattered across apps. Having the research, the discussion and the summary in one thread could save time. Whether people want an AI in their group conversations is exactly what this limited pilot is meant to find out.

How can you use a ChatGPT group chat well with family, friends or coworkers?

Start with a clear purpose. Name the group after its goal ("Garden plan" or "Q1 outline") and add custom instructions that set the tone and format, for example "Keep replies under 150 words and end with a decision we need to make."

Address ChatGPT directly when you need it, and give it the shared constraints in one message: budget, dates, preferences and what you want back. Ask it to summarize the discussion before a decision, so everyone works from the same list. Because each reply counts against the person ChatGPT answers, take turns asking for the bigger tasks.

Finally, think before you paste. Memory is off, but everything you write is visible to every member. Keep passwords, health details and anything you would not say in a group message out of the chat, and leave or remove people when a project ends.