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ChatGPT rolls out group chats globally, transforms AI collaboration
OpenAI launches group chat feature worldwide, letting up to 20 users collaborate with AI
PUBLISHED: Thu, Nov 20, 2025, 7:41 PM UTC | UPDATED: Fri, Nov 21, 2025, 12:24 AM UTC
3 mins read
OpenAI launches ChatGPT group chats globally after week-long pilot in Japan and New Zealand
Up to 20 users can collaborate in shared conversations across Free, Plus, Pro, and Team plans
Feature positions ChatGPT as collaborative workspace for trip planning, document writing, and research
Launch follows GPT-5.1 release and Sora social app, signaling OpenAI's platform expansion strategy
OpenAI just unleashed ChatGPT's biggest social evolution yet. The company rolled out group chats globally today, letting up to 20 people collaborate with AI in shared conversations across all subscription tiers. This isn't just another feature drop – it's OpenAI's boldest move to transform ChatGPT from a solo chatbot into a collaborative workspace that could reshape how teams work with AI.
OpenAI just flipped the script on AI collaboration. The company announced Thursday that ChatGPT group chats are now live globally, transforming the platform from a one-on-one assistant into what could become the workplace's next collaborative hub.
The rollout comes exactly one week after OpenAI began testing the feature in select markets including Japan and New Zealand. That rapid global expansion signals serious confidence in what OpenAI sees as a pivotal shift for its flagship product.
Here's how it works: up to 20 people can join a shared ChatGPT conversation, whether they're coordinating vacation plans, co-writing documents, or working through complex research problems together. The AI knows when to jump in and when to stay quiet – users can tag "ChatGPT" to get responses, and the bot can even react with emojis and reference profile photos.
The technical implementation reveals OpenAI's attention to privacy concerns. Personal settings and memory stay isolated to each user, even in group settings. When someone new joins an existing chat, it creates a fresh conversation rather than exposing previous discussions. Users set up lightweight profiles with names, usernames, and photos to participate.
"Over time, we see ChatGPT playing a more active role in real group conversations, helping people plan, create, and take action together," OpenAI told TechCrunch in an email response. That vision extends well beyond simple chat functionality.
The timing isn't coincidental. This launch comes less than two weeks after OpenAI dropped GPT-5.1, featuring both Instant and Thinking model variants. In September, the company launched Sora, a social video creation app with TikTok-style feeds. The pattern is clear: OpenAI is rapidly expanding beyond traditional AI assistance into social and collaborative territory.
This puts direct pressure on workplace collaboration tools. Microsoft Teams, Slack, and Discord all integrate AI features, but none offer the conversational sophistication of ChatGPT in group settings. Google Workspace and Notion have been pushing collaborative AI hard, but OpenAI's move could force entirely new product strategies.
The competitive implications run deeper than features. By making group chats available across all tiers – including free users – OpenAI is essentially betting that social AI collaboration will drive premium subscriptions through usage patterns rather than feature restrictions. That's a bold departure from the typical freemium playbook.
Industry analysts see this as OpenAI's answer to the "AI winter" concerns that have been building around chatbot fatigue. "They're not just adding features – they're reimagining what AI assistance looks like in social contexts," notes one venture capital source familiar with OpenAI's strategy discussions.
The feature arrives as enterprise AI adoption faces real challenges. Many companies report that individual AI tools create information silos rather than enhancing collaboration. OpenAI's group chat approach could solve that by making AI a shared resource rather than a personal assistant.
Early user feedback from the pilot markets suggests strong adoption for specific use cases: research teams collaborating on literature reviews, families planning complex trips, and creative teams brainstorming with AI input. But questions remain about how conversations scale beyond small groups and whether the AI can maintain context across multiple simultaneous discussions.
OpenAI's group chat launch represents more than a feature update – it's a fundamental reimagining of how AI fits into collaborative work. By making ChatGPT a shared resource rather than a personal assistant, OpenAI is positioning itself to capture the next wave of workplace AI adoption. The real test won't be technical capabilities, but whether teams actually change their collaboration habits around AI. If successful, this could establish OpenAI as the de facto platform for AI-enhanced teamwork, leaving competitors scrambling to catch up in a market that suddenly looks very different.
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