OpenAI has rolled out a pilot program for ChatGPT group chats in Japan, New Zealand, South Korea, and Taiwan, marking a significant step toward transforming the AI experience from a one-on-one tool into a collaborative, shared environment. The pilot allows users to invite friends, colleagues, or family members into private group conversations with ChatGPT, offering a new way to engage collectively with AI.
The group chat feature supports up to 20 participants per conversation and is available to Free, Plus, and Team plan users on both mobile and web platforms. Users can invite others via shareable links, and when someone joins an existing chat, ChatGPT duplicates the conversation into a new thread, keeping the original chat intact. This ensures users can experiment in groups without altering their personal conversation histories.
Powered by GPT‑5.1 Auto, ChatGPT dynamically selects the best model variant to respond to prompts, enabling advanced functionality in group contexts. Features such as image generation, file uploads, dictation, and real-time search are fully supported within these group chats, allowing for richer collaboration and content creation. Importantly, only AI-generated messages count toward usage limits, while messages between human participants do not, ensuring participants can communicate freely without restrictions.
Privacy remains central to the rollout. Group chats are isolated from private conversations, and personal ChatGPT memories are not accessed or updated within the group space. Participation is strictly invitation-based, and users can leave at any time. For younger participants, including those under 18, additional safety measures and parental controls are in place to protect minors during interactions.
OpenAI describes the initiative as a “small first step” toward making ChatGPT a more socially interactive platform. Feedback from this pilot will inform a broader global rollout, with the aim of providing a shared, collaborative AI experience that complements traditional one-on-one interactions.
The timing of this pilot comes as competition in the generative AI sector intensifies, with other companies exploring collaborative and multi-user AI features. OpenAI’s push into group experiences highlights a strategic shift to socially-oriented tools, enabling users to collectively brainstorm, plan, or create content with the support of AI. Analysts note that this could position ChatGPT as not just a productivity assistant but a central hub for group learning, remote collaboration, and interactive entertainment.
In addition to group interactions, OpenAI continues to expand accessibility features, including language support and integrations across different platforms, signaling a long-term vision of making AI engagement more universal and inclusive. By fostering shared usage scenarios, the company hopes to accelerate the adoption of AI as a daily collaborative tool across education, business, and community projects.
Early reactions from the pilot regions have been positive, with users appreciating the structured approach to privacy and the intuitive setup for collaborative discussions. OpenAI plans to gather detailed analytics from user behavior, engagement levels, and feature utilization to refine group chat capabilities before rolling out globally.
With ChatGPT group chats, OpenAI is setting the stage for the next generation of interactive AI, where conversations are no longer confined to single users but can be experienced collectively, bridging social connections with artificial intelligence innovation.
