The “ChatGPT group chats” feature is a new pilot offering from OpenAI that enables multiple users and the AI assistant to participate in the same conversation.
According to OpenAI’s announcement on 13 November 2025, this feature is now available for users in Japan, New Zealand, South Korea and Taiwan — on both mobile and web for Free, Go, Plus and Pro plans.
How It Works
Here’s a breakdown of how the feature operates:
- You can start a group chat by tapping a “people” icon in an existing chat or a new chat window. If you add someone to an existing chat, ChatGPT automatically creates a copy of the conversation as a new group chat so the original remains private.
- You can invite up to 20 people via a shareable link. Any participant can share the link further.
- When you join or create your first group chat, you’ll be asked to set up a name, username and photo so other participants know who’s in the chat.
- Group chats appear in a separate labelled section of the ChatGPT sidebar for easy access.
- The AI’s responses in group chats are powered by GPT-5.1 Auto, selecting the best model based on user plan. All usual features (search, image upload, file upload, image generation, dictation) work in group chats too.
- ChatGPT in group chats is designed to follow “social” behaviours: it assesses the flow of the conversation and decides when to respond vs stay silent. Users can mention “ChatGPT” to prompt a direct response. It can even react with emojis and reference profile photos.
Why This Matters
1. Collaborative Work & Social Use
Previously, ChatGPT was primarily a one-on-one experience. The group chat feature expands this into group-based collaboration: friends planning a trip, teams working on a project, or family making decisions together.
2. Broader Engagement & Use Cases
With this feature, ChatGPT becomes more of a shared workspace than just an assistant. It supports group ideation, project planning, summarising shared docs, or even acting as a moderator in a discussion.
3. Strategic Move Towards Social & Collaborative Platforms
This feature places OpenAI in competition with collaborative chat tools and social platforms that already allow group-AI experiences. It signals that OpenAI is thinking beyond solo usage.
4. Privacy & Control Design
OpenAI emphasises that group chats are distinct from private individual chats — your personal ChatGPT memory is not used in group chats, and no new memory is created from them.
5. Controlled Rollout
By launching in select regions first, OpenAI can gather valuable user feedback, learn from early usage patterns, refine UX, build out controls for parents, minors, and privacy settings before global expansion.
Regional Rollout & Availability
Currently, the pilot is live only in Japan, New Zealand, South Korea and Taiwan, for users of ChatGPT on mobile and web across Free, Go, Plus and Pro plans.
OpenAI has stated that this is an early step and they expect to expand to more regions in time.
Things to Keep an Eye On
- Global rollout: When will the feature expand to India, Europe, the U.S. and other markets?
- User behaviour: Will group chats with AI lead to new collaboration patterns, or unintended behaviours (spam, off-topic chats)?
- Monetisation & plan differences: If multiple users join (some free, some Pro), how will limits, response quality, model selection play out? (Note: GPT-5.1 Auto picks model based on plan of the person being responded to.) Business Standard
- Privacy & safety moderation: How will OpenAI ensure minors are protected if they join group chats? Will the filters, parental controls, and exit options be adequate?
- Feature evolution: Will group chats integrate deeper with apps/files/workflows? Will we see enterprise or education-specific versions?
- UX & performance: Response rates, lag, how the AI chooses when to speak — these will shape how useful the group chat feature is in practice.
Conclusion
The ChatGPT group chats feature marks a noteworthy evolution for the platform. By enabling up to 20 participants plus the AI in a shared conversation, OpenAI is expanding the use case from solo assistance to collaborative interaction. While currently limited to a pilot in select regions, its implications for team productivity, social usage and shared decision-making are significant.
For users and organisations, this means ChatGPT could become not just a tool you talk to—but one you talk through, together with others. The mantra shifts from “me chatting with AI” to “us collaborating with AI”.
As rollout expands, it will be interesting to see how people adopt group chats (for work, study, personal planning) and how OpenAI refines the experience based on real-world feedback
