ChatGPT group chats go global: How to start one and what you can do with it

New Delhi: OpenAI has rolled out group chats in ChatGPT, turning the service from a one-to-one AI assistant into a shared conversation space where multiple people can plan, debate and work together with the chatbot in the same thread. The feature was piloted on November 13 in Japan, New Zealand, South Korea and Taiwan, and is now being expanded globally to all logged-in users across ChatGPT Free, Go, Plus and Pro plans.

Group chats work much like a regular ChatGPT conversation but allow others to join. Users can start a group by tapping the people icon at the top right of any chat on web or mobile. If someone adds participants to an existing private chat, ChatGPT creates a new group copy so the original one-to-one thread stays separate. Invitations are sent through a shareable link, and a group can include between one and 20 people.

Once a user creates or joins a group for the first time, they are prompted to set up a short profile with their name, username and photo. Group chats then appear in a dedicated, clearly labelled section of the sidebar. Members can rename the group, add or remove participants, mute notifications, or leave at any time.
OpenAI said ChatGPT’s responses inside groups are powered by GPT-5.1 Auto, which routes each prompt to the best model available under the plan of the person ChatGPT is replying to. Groups retain access to the platform’s core tools such as web search, image and file uploads, image generation and dictation.

The company has also added “social” behaviours for the AI in group settings. ChatGPT can follow the flow of discussion, decide when to speak up, respond when it is mentioned by name, and react to messages with emojis. It can also reference profile photos when users ask for personalised images or content.

On usage limits, OpenAI clarified that rate caps apply only when ChatGPT responds, not to messages exchanged between people. Any AI response counts against the individual rate limit of the user ChatGPT is replying to, based on their plan.

Privacy controls are built into the feature. OpenAI said group chats remain separate from a user’s private conversations. Personal ChatGPT memory is not used inside groups, and the system does not create new memories from group interactions. Users must accept an invite to join, can see all participants, and can remove others from the chat, except for the creator, who can only be removed if they leave themselves.

For younger users, OpenAI said group chats automatically reduce exposure to sensitive content for everyone in the thread if a participant is under 18. Parents and guardians can disable the feature through parental controls.

OpenAI described group chats as an early step toward making ChatGPT a more collaborative platform and said the company will refine the experience as more users adopt it worldwide.