ChatGPT is launching group chats globally to all users on Free, Go, Plus, and Pro plans, OpenAI announced on Thursday. The move comes a week after the company began piloting the feature in select regions, including Japan and New Zealand.
The feature allows users to collaborate with each other and ChatGPT in one shared conversation. OpenAI says the launch turns ChatGPT from a one-on-one assistant into a space where friends, family, or co-workers can work together to plan, create, and make decisions.
The company sees group chats in ChatGPT as a way for people to coordinate trips, co-write documents, settle debates, or work through research together, while ChatGPT helps search, summarize, and compare options.
Up to 20 people can participate in a group chat as long as they’ve accepted an invite. Personal settings and memory stay private to each user, the company says.
To start a group chat, users need to tap the people icon and add participants, either directly or by sharing a link. Everyone will be asked to set up a short profile with their name, username, and photo.
It’s worth noting that adding someone to an existing chat creates a new conversation, leaving the original chat unchanged.
OpenAI says ChatGPT knows when to jump in and when to stay quiet during a group conversation. Users can tag “ChatGPT” to get it to respond. Plus, ChatGPT can react to messages with emojis, and reference profile photos.
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The move marks OpenAI’s latest step in turning ChatGPT from a simple chatbot into more of a social platform. OpenAI says group chats are just the beginning of ChatGPT becoming a collaborative environment, not just a single-player experience.
“Over time, we see ChatGPT playing a more active role in real group conversations, helping people plan, create, and take action together,” the company wrote in an email to TechCrunch.
Thursday’s announcement comes less than two weeks after the launch of GPT‑5.1, which featured both Instant and Thinking versions of the model. In September, OpenAI launched a social app called Sora, where users can generate videos of themselves and their friends to share on a TikTok-style algorithmic feed.
Aisha is a consumer news reporter at TechCrunch. Prior to joining the publication in 2021, she was a telecom reporter at MobileSyrup. Aisha holds an honours bachelor’s degree from University of Toronto and a master’s degree in journalism from Western University.
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