OpenAI unveils always-on Dots agent, $500 monthly ChatGPT plan

OpenAI unveiled an always-on artificial intelligence assistant Tuesday called Dots, alongside a $500 monthly ChatGPT plan, as it expands from answering users’ requests to carrying out work on their behalf.

Introduced at the company’s developer conference, Dots runs on its GPT-6 Astra model and has its own cloud computer and browser. OpenAI said it can connect to more than 4,000 apps, work toward a user’s goals around the clock and learn from feedback.

Users can message or call their dot through ChatGPT on desktop, web and mobile, or message it through Slack and Microsoft Teams. Text messaging is planned for later. The assistant can report progress, ask questions and carry context between the channels, according to OpenAI.

“It’s like an AI helper that’s always got your back,” CEO Sam Altman said at the event. Referring to user controls, he added, “This allows you to trust your dot with as much responsibility as you’re comfortable with.”

OpenAI gave examples ranging from monitoring customer feedback and preparing tested software fixes to updating research figures when new data arrives. It said its teams use Dots to investigate bugs reported in Slack. In one early test outside the company, a dot prepared an overdue invoice and sent it after the user approved it.

Rollout, user controls

Dots is beginning to roll out to Pro and Business Premium subscribers in eligible markets. Enterprise customers, including education and healthcare organizations, can try a beta version if their workspace administrators enable it. Users initially receive one dot, with support for more planned later.

Users choose which apps their dot can access and can set rules requiring approval or blocking particular actions. OpenAI said a dot’s background research uses read-only access to connected apps, while users can inspect its work and review actions that could affect their accounts. The company is also piloting specialist Dots for organizational tasks such as procurement, customer support and commercial contracting.

OpenAI’s new Pro 500 plan costs $500 a month and offers its highest included usage allowance, equivalent to 25 times the ChatGPT Plus allowance. It also includes access to Ultrafast processing for GPT-6 Astra in ChatGPT Work and Codex. The company said Ultrafast can generate output up to eight times faster in Codex.

The company also introduced GPT-6.1 Sol, which it said approaches Astra’s performance on coding and professional tasks at one-fifth of Astra’s standard API input and output token prices. Another launch, ChatGPT Space, gives teams a shared place to work with ChatGPT and Dots.

OpenAI said ChatGPT has 1.2 billion weekly users.