OpenAI launches “dots”, always-on agents inside ChatGPT, and lets developers' agents drive a hosted browser

OpenAI's main consumer launch at its DevDay on 29 September was dots: always-on agents inside ChatGPT, each with its own cloud computer, that keep working between conversations. OpenAI's help-centre pages refused access during this run, so the consumer details come from SiliconANGLE's report.

SiliconANGLE reports that dots are rolling out to ChatGPT Pro and Business Premium subscribers, with Enterprise, Edu and Healthcare customers in beta, and that Pro subscribers in the European Economic Area, Switzerland and the UK are not included. Additional agents are planned later, at prices OpenAI has not disclosed.

The developer version is on OpenAI's own record. Its API changelog for 29 September reads: “Agents can complete tasks in an OpenAI-hosted browser, with website access approvals and sign-in handled by your application.” That leaves the decision about which sites an agent may enter, and the handling of logins, with the developer rather than with OpenAI. The same day OpenAI added an Ultrafast service tier for GPT-6 Astra in its Responses API, available with global processing and US data residency but not EU residency.

Meta's Muse, Manus's Cue and Instinct have all been selling persistent personal agents this month, covered here. OpenAI's entry takes the idea to its own paying subscribers, and it arrives on the same day a nonprofit sued OpenAI over its agents' earlier breach of Hugging Face (below). No launch figures for dots were visible from here.

• Reported Dots roll out to ChatGPT Pro and Business Premium, with Enterprise, Edu and Healthcare in beta; Pro subscribers in the EEA, Switzerland and the UK are not included; pricing for additional agents is undisclosed. SiliconANGLE
• Confirmed Computer use added to the Agents API on 29 September: agents work in an OpenAI-hosted browser, with website approvals and sign-in handled by the developer's application. OpenAI API changelog
• Confirmed Ultrafast mode added for GPT-6 Astra in the Responses API, with global processing and US data residency only. OpenAI API changelog