What Is ChatGPT’s Group Chat Feature?

What Is ChatGPT’s Group Chat Feature?

ChatGPT’s group chat is a feature that lets multiple people + ChatGPT talk together in the same thread.
You can bring ChatGPT into a conversation between friends, family, or coworkers whenever you want help, and collaborate in real time.

You can use it for things like:

• Trip planning
• Finding and comparing restaurants
• Working together on homework or reports
• Brainstorming and drafting work documents

Think of it as a LINE group or Slack channel that happens to include ChatGPT.

Right now it’s in pilot (test) rollout for some users in Japan, New Zealand, South Korea, and Taiwan,
and is gradually being enabled for ChatGPT Free / Go / Plus / Pro.

Where Can You Use It? (Eligibility and Requirements)

• Eligible plans:
  • ChatGPT Free / Go / Plus / Pro
    • (Pilot, so rollout starts with certain regions and accounts)
• Supported platforms:
  • ChatGPT web and mobile apps

In the release notes, OpenAI describes it as:

“We’re piloting ‘Group chats’ that let you bring people and ChatGPT into the same conversation.”

The expectation is that supported regions and plans will expand over time.

How to Use It: Getting Started with Group Chats

1. Creating a Group Chat

1. In ChatGPT, open a new or existing chat
2. Click or tap the “person icon (participants)” or “Start a group chat” button at the top right
3. Invite the people you want to join
   • Share an invite link (you can have 1–20 people in a group)

If you add people to an existing chat,
ChatGPT will create a new group chat that’s a copy of that conversation.
The original one-on-one chat stays intact, so you don’t lose anything.

2. Setting Up Your Profile

The first time you join a group chat, you’ll be asked for a simple profile:

• Name
• Username
• Profile image

This information is used in the participant list and when ChatGPT addresses you by name.

3. Managing the Group

Tap the participant icons to open the group settings:

• Change the group name
• Add or remove members
• Mute notifications

You can manage everything for that group from there.

How Does ChatGPT Behave? When Does It Talk?

In group chats, ChatGPT behaves in a slightly more “social” and context-aware way.

1. Sometimes It Jumps In, Sometimes It Just Watches

• It follows the conversation and chimes in automatically when it seems useful
• But it doesn’t talk nonstop; by default it stays relatively quiet

2. Calling It Explicitly

If you definitely want a response, mention it in your message, for example:

• “ChatGPT, can you ~~~?”
• “@ChatGPT Please summarize this.”

If you call it by name, it will respond.

3. Emoji Reactions Too

ChatGPT can also:

• Add emoji reactions to other people’s messages
• Use profile icons as inspiration to generate images featuring group members

Which Model Does It Use?

In group chats, ChatGPT responds using GPT-5.1 Auto.

• Based on your plan (Free / Go / Plus / Pro) and
• Whatever models are available at that time,

it automatically picks the most appropriate model.

Features On/Off

Within a group chat, you can still use the usual features:

• Web browsing
• Image generation
• File uploads
• Voice input (dictation)

Only messages where ChatGPT responds count against your rate limits / usage caps.
Messages exchanged purely between human participants do not consume usage.

Privacy and Memory: How Are They Handled?

This is probably the biggest concern, so let’s be very clear.

1. Completely Separate from Your Personal Chat Memory

According to the official blog:

• Group chats are completely separate from your regular chats
• Your personal ChatGPT memory is not used in group chats
• Group chat conversations do not create new entries in your personal memory

In other words:

“Your personal preferences and memory won’t ‘leak’ to other people via a group chat.”

That’s the design principle.

2. Custom Instructions Are Also Isolated per User

Leaked docs and blog explanations say that each person’s custom instructions are kept isolated inside group chats,
so that “custom instruction isolation” prevents mixing of different users’ settings.

3. Extra Safeguards for Underage Users

• When users under 18 use group chats,
  • The system will automatically reduce exposure to sensitive content for the whole group
• Parents can also disable the group chat feature entirely via parental controls

Per-Chat Personalities and Rules

Each group chat can have its own custom instructions.

Examples:

• Travel planning group:
  • “Keep the budget low” / “Prioritize hot springs”
• Work docs group:
  • “Formal business tone” / “Japanese only” / “Always include numeric sources”
• Study group:
  • “Explain so middle schoolers can understand” / “End with 3 practice questions”

So you can give ChatGPT a different personality, tone, and priorities for each group,
which works great when you split topics into different channels.

Concrete Use Cases: When Is It Handy?

1. Trip or Event Planning

• Everyone in the group writes down:
  • Dates, budget, preferences (hot springs, food, sightseeing, etc.)
• Then ask ChatGPT:
  • “Please suggest 3 plans that satisfy everyone’s conditions.”
  • “Compare the pros and cons of these plans.”

You can quickly create plans that reflect everyone’s wishes.

2. Study Groups / Book Clubs / Seminars

• Members share PDFs and URLs into the group
• Ask ChatGPT to:
  • Summarize
  • Explain difficult terms
  • Create test questions

You can resolve everyone’s questions on the spot and deepen understanding as a group.

3. Work Brainstorms and Drafting

• Marketing, product, and sales teammates share:
  • Target audience
  • Objectives
  • Reference materials

with ChatGPT in the group, and then:

• “Give us 3 ideas.”
• “Turn this idea into a Japanese presentation script.”

This makes creating first drafts dramatically faster.

How Is It Different from “Projects” or Business ChatGPT?

Since there are other new features that sound similar, here’s a quick comparison.

vs Projects

• Projects

  • A workspace to group chats, files, and custom instructions by long-running work:
    • Project-specific chat
    • Project files
    • Project-specific instructions
  • Can be used solo or shared with a team.

• Group chats

  • A single thread where “you, other people, and ChatGPT” discuss one topic together
  • Better suited for lighter, ad-hoc collaboration or casual multi-person chats.

vs ChatGPT Business / Enterprise

• ChatGPT Business / Enterprise / Edu

  • Paid plans that connect to internal tools (Slack, Google Drive, SharePoint, GitHub, etc.) and
  • Provide “Company knowledge”, where ChatGPT answers based on your internal data.

• Group chats themselves:

  • Available on Free–Pro as a core feature
  • In Business / Enterprise, you’ll likely use company data + group chats together
    (for example, a team group chat that can also search your internal docs).

Summary: Key Points of the Group Chat Feature

Here’s a compact recap:

• What can it do?

  • Let multiple people + ChatGPT share the same context and talk in one thread
  • Bring AI naturally into any “group discussion” like trips, study, or work brainstorming

• How do you use it?

  • Create via the “person icon / Start a group chat” at the top right
  • Invite 1–20 people with an invite link
  • ChatGPT joins in when it seems helpful and always responds when you call its name

• Which model does it use?

  • GPT-5.1 Auto, which picks the best model based on your plan and the conversation
  • Browsing, images, files, and voice input still work in group chats

• What about privacy?

  • Your personal chat memory is completely separate from groups
  • Group conversations do not create new personal memories
  • Parents can turn off group chat for minors via parental controls

It’s still in “pilot” right now, so details and supported regions will likely continue to shift.
But directionally, you can think of it as the first step in turning ChatGPT from a 1:1 assistant into a shared collaboration space for groups.