According to GSM Arena, OpenAI has started piloting group chats in ChatGPT that let users collaborate with up to 20 people in shared AI-powered conversations. You can start a group by tapping the people icon in any chat and inviting others via link, creating a separate copy while preserving the original conversation. The feature uses ChatGPT 5.1 Auto, which chooses the best model based on each user’s plan and only applies rate limits when the AI responds, not during human-to-human chatting. OpenAI has taught ChatGPT new social behaviors where it follows conversation flow and decides when to respond or stay quiet, though you can always mention it directly. Group chats are rolling out now on web and mobile for logged-in Free, Go, Plus, and Pro users in Japan, Taiwan, New Zealand, and South Korea, with expansion planned based on early feedback.
Social AI Arrives
This is actually pretty significant when you think about it. We’ve had AI assistants that work one-on-one, but now we’re seeing the first real attempt at social AI that understands group dynamics. The fact that ChatGPT can “decide when to respond and when to stay quiet” based on conversation context? That’s not just a technical feature – it’s teaching AI social etiquette.
And the emoji responses and profile photo recognition? Those are small touches that make the AI feel more like another participant rather than just a tool. It’s basically trying to blend into human conversation patterns instead of just waiting for direct commands.
Privacy and Controls
Here’s the thing that caught my attention: OpenAI specifically states that neither your personal ChatGPT memory is used in group chats, nor does ChatGPT create memories from these conversations. That’s a pretty deliberate privacy boundary they’re drawing.
But then they mention they’re “exploring more granular controls” for memory usage in group chats later. So they’re clearly thinking about this as a feature that could evolve toward more personalization. The automatic content filtering when minors are detected is also smart – it shows they’re anticipating real-world usage scenarios where you might have mixed-age groups.
Where This Is Heading
Look, group AI collaboration feels like the natural next step after individual AI assistants. But I wonder how this will actually play out in practice. Will teams really use this for decision-making? Or will it become another digital meeting room that nobody actually uses?
The regional rollout strategy is interesting too – starting in Asian markets and New Zealand suggests they’re testing in diverse cultural contexts before bringing it to the US and Europe. Smart move, honestly. Different cultures have different communication styles, and if the AI can handle that variation, it’ll be much more robust when it goes global.
This feels like the beginning of something much bigger. If group AI collaboration takes off, we could be looking at the future of how teams work together – with an AI participant that’s actually context-aware and socially intelligent. Or it could just be another feature that sounds cooler than it actually is. Only time will tell.
