Background: OpenAI is the company behind ChatGPT, which now has more than 100 million weekly users. And after the recent launch of Sora, complete with a TikTok-style feed of AI-generated videos, it’s clear OpenAI has started leaning into a more social, interactive product direction.

What happened: ChatGPT has launched a new “Groups” feature that lets up to 20 people work together inside a single chat. Users can talk to each other in the same thread, tag ChatGPT to jump in and basically recreate the chaos of group projects… but now with an AI mediator.

What else: This update continues OpenAI’s broader push to make ChatGPT feel less like a tool and more like a space where people can collaborate. With OpenAI already experimenting with social-style feeds in Sora, the group chat feature indicates a potentially much bigger strategy: turning ChatGPT into a social platform.

What's the key learning?

💡Adding a social layer is one of the most powerful growth levers for tech companies. Social features transform a product from something users visit into somewhere they spend time, which dramatically boosts engagement.

💡When a product becomes social, it unlocks new behaviours. Instagram is the perfect example. It started as a photo-tool with filters, but now, as a social platform with follows, likes and comments, users are uploading 95 million photos per day and generating billions of interactions.

💡By introducing group chats, OpenAI is repositioning ChatGPT from a one-on-one productivity tool into a shared digital space. Watch out TikTok!