OpenAI has introduced group chats, a major expansion designed to transform ChatGPT from a one-on-one assistant into a shared collaborative environment. After an initial regional pilot on November 13, early feedback proved strong, prompting global rollout across all ChatGPT plans beginning November 20. The new feature allows people to bring friends, family, classmates, or coworkers directly into the same conversation with ChatGPT, enabling both human and AI contributions in real time.

This shift marks one of the platform’s most significant product milestones since shared links. Where shared links let others view and continue a conversation separately, group chats enable truly collective interaction, turning ChatGPT into a space where people can plan, brainstorm, research, debate, and create together.

When ChatGPT launched, it was intentionally designed for individual use—one person chatting with one model. As Fidji Simo, OpenAI’s CEO of Applications, explained, many of life’s most important decisions and projects happen with other people. Users demonstrated early demand for shared interactions by sending screenshots, forwarding messages, or screen-sharing ChatGPT during study sessions.

This behavior revealed a fundamental need: people wanted a way to think together, not just individually. According to Simo, group chats represent the next transformation—shifting ChatGPT from a “single-player experience” into a multiplayer environment when collaboration makes more sense.

People have already used ChatGPT collaboratively in informal ways:

For example, when planning a weekend trip with friends, a group chat can help compare destinations, build an itinerary, and create a shared packing list with everyone participating and following along.

Group chats formalize these use cases by placing everyone—plus ChatGPT—into a shared, AI-supported space.

Group chats are available on both mobile and web, and work similarly to typical ChatGPT conversations—only now, others can join. Users can start a group chat by tapping the people icon in the corner of any new or existing conversation. Adding someone to a chat automatically creates a new group version, keeping private threads fully separate. All active group chats appear in a clearly labeled sidebar section for quick access.

You can invite up to 20 participants, and anyone in the group can share the invite link. Each member sets up a short profile with a name, username, and photo, making it easier to see who’s speaking. Because group chats introduce shared, multi-user spaces, this profile is intentionally kept separate from your private ChatGPT account, ensuring that no personal information is exposed automatically.

ChatGPT’s responses in group chats use GPT-5.1 Auto, which intelligently selects the best available model based on the prompt and the plan level of the person it’s responding to. All core capabilities—including search, file uploads, dictation, and image generation—are enabled.

Important details include:

Rate limits apply only when ChatGPT responds, and each response counts against the limit of the specific plan tier—Free, Go, Plus, or Pro—of the person who prompted it. Messages between users never count toward any limit.

Users can also manage every aspect of the group space—naming the chat, adding or removing participants, muting notifications, and setting custom instructions that shape how ChatGPT responds, from the amount of context it provides to the tone or personality it uses.

Group chats are structurally separate from private conversations. Personal ChatGPT memory is never shared, and group chats do not create new personal memories. In the future, OpenAI may explore fine-grained memory controls, letting users choose how much (if any) persistent knowledge applies in group settings.

People join group chats only by explicitly accepting an invite, and members can leave at any time. Participants—except the group creator—can be removed by others. These boundaries reflect OpenAI’s effort to preserve ChatGPT as a personal space, even as it evolves into a shared one.

OpenAI has added additional protections for younger users. If someone under 18 joins a group chat, ChatGPT automatically reduces exposure to sensitive content for everyone in the conversation. Parents or guardians can also disable group chats entirely using built-in parental controls.

This ensures that group chats can be used safely by families, schools, and study groups—settings where multi-user collaboration is especially valuable.

Q: How many people can join a ChatGPT group chat?
A: Up to 20 participants can collaborate in the same conversation with ChatGPT.

Q: Are private conversations shared with the group?
A: No. Group chats are separate, and your personal memory is never used or shared.

Q: What model powers ChatGPT’s responses in group chats?
A: ChatGPT uses GPT-5.1 Auto, selecting the best model based on prompt and plan.

Q: How can I start or join a group chat?
A: Tap the people icon in any conversation and use the invite link to add others.

Q: Can ChatGPT understand group dynamics?
A: Yes. ChatGPT has been taught new social behaviors, enabling it to decide when to speak, stay quiet, react with emojis, and follow the flow of conversation.

The introduction of group chats signals a major shift in how people will use AI to accomplish shared goals. Instead of each person interacting with ChatGPT separately, families, friends, students, and teams can now problem-solve and create together within the same space—supported by a model that understands context across multiple participants.

This makes ChatGPT feel less like a solitary assistant and more like a collaborative partner, capable of helping groups:

Plan events
Learn new topics
Make decisions
Build ideas
Create content
Navigate complex questions

As group chats evolve, we can expect more proactive, connected, and socially aware AI behaviors—opening the door to richer teamwork, shared creativity, and new forms of human connection built around collaboration rather than isolation.

ChatGPT is becoming not just a tool for answers, but a shared environment where creativity, planning, and learning happen together.

Editor’s Note: This article was created by Alicia Shapiro, CMO of AiNews.com, with writing, image, and idea-generation support from ChatGPT, an AI assistant. However, the final perspective and editorial choices are solely Alicia Shapiro’s. Special thanks to ChatGPT for assistance with research and editorial support in crafting this article.