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What Are ChatGPT Dots? How They Work and How to Get Started
By Ben Angel · Sources checked October 1, 2026
ChatGPT dots are always-on AI agents that can keep working on a goal between conversations. Each dot has its own cloud computer, can use apps you connect, and brings back results or questions when it needs your input. OpenAI introduced dots on September 29, 2026. OpenAI’s announcement
For a solopreneur, recording a video is only the start. Pulling out useful moments, drafting posts, and checking everything can swallow the rest of your afternoon.
Here’s what dots can help with, how to get started, and how to keep control of the work.
In this guide
What are ChatGPT dots?
A dot is an AI assistant you can give an ongoing responsibility, with boundaries you set.
OpenAI says dots run on GPT-6 Astra. They can help with research, documents, data analysis, and software work, using available context and tools. You can continue the conversation while work is underway. Meet dots
How do ChatGPT dots work?
There are three practical pieces to understand:
The goal: Tell your dot what you want finished, which sources matter, and what a good result looks like.
The tools: Its cloud computer and browser handle supported work. Connected apps provide additional information and actions within the access you’ve granted.
The feedback: Review the result, point out what’s wrong, and tell it what to improve next.
Your dot’s cloud computer is separate from your laptop. Cloud work can continue while your device is off. Connecting your own computer is optional; work that needs that computer requires it to be online with the ChatGPT app open. Its cloud browser also has separate sign-in sessions. Computers and apps
You can also talk through a task by voice. OpenAI’s DevDay dots demonstration shows a short voice interaction at 11:36–11:45. It’s an official launch demo, rather than an independent test of a complete business workflow.
OpenAI’s DevDay 2026 demonstration shows a short voice interaction with a dot at 11:36–11:45. Credit: OpenAI. This launch demo does not establish the completion of an end-to-end business task.
What I found in my first 24 hours
I’ve been using dots for 24 hours. Here’s what I found: it’s more useful when I give it access to the skills I’ve already set up and ask it to work within existing projects. Those projects contain Markdown files, or plain-text notes, with instructions and background, so there’s less to explain from scratch.
My biggest win as a solopreneur was discussing five projects while it kept working in the background. In my use, it carried relevant context as I moved between them. The jobs included:
Drafting a new blog post
Developing video scripts
Creating thumbnails
Uploading a YouTube video
Preparing a media-partner video submission and organizing its links
Organizing files for a Google Drive upload
Planning a content-review dashboard
Some of that work was still in draft or preparation. The YouTube upload was completed. I personally sent the media email and uploaded the Drive file; my dot helped prepare and coordinate those steps.
That’s my early experience. Project files and skills must be available with your permission. You may need to correct or restate context, especially when work moves to a separate task.
Three ways solopreneurs can use dots
Try these small workflows with material you can verify.
1. Turn one recording into content drafts
OpenAI illustrates a creator workflow in which a dot finds potential clip moments and prepares show notes and social posts for approval. Official creator example
Try giving it one transcript, two examples of your writing, and a clear audience. Ask for three post drafts, suggested clip timestamps where the transcript includes timing, and a list of claims to check.
Your review should answer: Does this sound like me? Is the advice accurate? Has it preserved what I actually said?
Keep publishing as a separate decision. This is especially important when the recording mentions a client, a price, or an offer that may have changed.
2. Prepare for a client conversation
Give your dot the specific proposal, approved notes, and questions for an upcoming call. Ask for a one-page brief covering the client’s priorities, unresolved questions, and information you still need.
For example: “Use these three documents to prepare my meeting brief. Link each important claim to its source. Flag conflicting dates or prices. Don’t contact the client or change the proposal.”
Check the brief against the originals. A polished summary is only useful if it represents the client accurately. You still own the pricing, promises, and relationship.
3. Keep a small launch organized
Try a bounded assignment: “For the next seven days, help me maintain this launch checklist. Use the documents I provide. Flag overdue decisions and draft suggested updates for my review.”
Specify who owns each task and what counts as finished. Ask the dot to separate confirmed facts from assumptions. If you want a scheduled check-in, give a time, time zone, and end date, then ask it to confirm the setup. Working with tasks
How to get started with ChatGPT dots
Check your access and plan
As of October 1, 2026, dots are rolling out to Pro users outside the European Economic Area, Switzerland, and the UK. Business Premium has access across supported ChatGPT regions. Enterprise, including Edu and Healthcare, needs an administrator to enable the beta. Dots are not yet available to under-18s, and eligible accounts may need to wait for the rollout. Access details · Age eligibility
Your first dot is included with Pro or Business Premium at no extra cost. Deeper work has an allowance; “always on” should not be read as unlimited task execution. Check the current plans and your account’s limits before subscribing specifically for dots.
Set up one useful responsibility
Open ChatGPT on desktop. Create your dot in the desktop app or a desktop browser and follow the introduction.
Connect only what the first job needs. You can skip app connections initially and add them later.
Choose whether to connect your computer. Leave this for a task that needs local files or tools.
Explain your business briefly. Share your audience, the task, relevant examples, and the decisions you want to make yourself.
Ask for one reviewable output. A brief or a few drafts makes a manageable first test.
After desktop setup, the same dot is available in the ChatGPT mobile app when the supporting update reaches your account. Mobile web isn’t supported. Official setup guide
Permissions and review before you hand over work
Start by checking existing app connections. Plugin permissions are shared across ChatGPT, Work, Codex, and dots, so your dot may be able to use connections you already approved. Disconnecting a service stops new access through that connection; it doesn’t erase information already retained. Privacy and permissions FAQ
OpenAI describes several layers of protection. Auto-review checks relevant actions against your instructions and safety requirements. Custom Rules let you set ongoing boundaries, but cannot remove core safeguards. Highly sensitive steps, such as changing passwords, require you to take over. OpenAI’s safety explanation
Dots can also look for helpful updates in connected information. The tools used for that proactive research are read-only. Any resulting action still has to follow the applicable permissions and approval rules.
For a first business task, make your boundary explicit: “Prepare drafts for me. Ask before sending, publishing, spending money, or changing a live page.” Review any rule confirmation the app presents.
Also decide what information belongs in the task. Use a public article or a cleaned-up sample before handing over confidential client material. Never put passwords in the chat; use the supported secure sign-in flow when needed.
Check important work before relying on it. Look for unsupported claims, the wrong recipient, outdated numbers, and changes outside your request. You can inspect progress in Activity and redirect the work. Control your dot
Your first task to try today
Choose one article you own and already trust. Paste this prompt, replacing the bracketed details:
“Help me repurpose this article for [audience] on [platform]. Use only the article and these two examples of my writing. Create three short post drafts with different angles. For each one, show the supporting passage from the article and flag any claim that needs checking. Keep the tone [describe it]. Don’t invent a personal story, statistic, or result. Return the drafts here for review. Don’t publish, schedule, contact anyone, or edit the original. Finish after delivering the three drafts.”
Then check the work against the source. Pick one draft and give specific feedback: “This opening is too broad. Lead with the reader’s problem, shorten the introduction, and remove the claim about saving five hours.”
Check how much editing it needs, then repeat with another article before expanding the responsibility.
ChatGPT dots FAQ
Are ChatGPT dots free?
The first dot is included in eligible Pro and Business Premium subscriptions at no extra cost. Those are paid plans, and deeper work has limits. Enterprise access depends on the workspace. See OpenAI’s launch terms.
Do I need to know how to code?
No coding is needed to create a dot or describe a task. Start with a straightforward written request and clear examples, following the setup guide.
Can a dot send emails or publish content?
Potentially, when the necessary tools, access, and authorization are in place. Approval requirements depend on the action. Asking for a draft does not give permission to send it. Be explicit about your boundaries and review consequential work. Action approvals
Does closing the app stop the work?
Assigned cloud work can continue. To stop work, check the controls for the main task, delegated tasks, and scheduled tasks separately. Ending a voice call doesn’t necessarily end an assignment. Stopping and reviewing work
If you’re new to the basics, start with my beginner’s guide to ChatGPT. Then bring your dot one useful job, a reliable source, and a clear definition of finished.
Build an AI team around your business
Once you’ve tried a small task, the next question is how the work fits together. Each AI specialist needs a clear job, useful context, a shared goal, and a process for handing work back to you.
That’s what my Zero-Employee Entrepreneur course is designed to help you build: a personalized AI team, your SoloStack, around one meaningful 90-day business goal. You work through the roles, instructions, approval boundaries, handoffs, and quality checks. Explore the course if you’re ready to turn individual AI tasks into a more coordinated way of working.
About the author: Ben Angel is an Entrepreneur Network contributor and author of The Wolf Is at the Door. He writes about practical AI workflows for entrepreneurs.
About this guide: This AI-assisted guide combines official documentation checked on October 1, 2026, with Ben’s account of his first 24 hours using dots.
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