OpenAI announced Dots at DevDay on September 29, 2026. A dot is a persistent agent inside ChatGPT that keeps working between conversations. OpenAI's launch material calls them "remarkably capable, always-on agents built to handle everything." Earlier ChatGPT agents ran a task when asked and then stopped. A dot holds a goal, has its own cloud computer and browser, remembers what it learned, and reports back on its own schedule. For brands, the change is that research, comparison, and follow-up can now happen with no person watching the screen.
Dots at a Glance
| Item | Detail at launch |
|---|---|
| Announced | September 29, 2026, OpenAI DevDay |
| Model | GPT-6 Astra |
| Runs on | A dedicated cloud computer and browser per dot, so it works while the user's own device is off |
| App connections | More than 4,000 apps through OpenAI's plugin ecosystem |
| Where users talk to it | ChatGPT (text and voice), Slack, Microsoft Teams. SMS is in a US-only Pro beta |
| Plans | ChatGPT Pro and Business Premium. Beta for Enterprise, Edu, and Healthcare when an admin turns it on. Not on Free or Plus |
| Regions | Pro: eligible markets, excluding the EEA, Switzerland, and the UK. Business Premium: all supported ChatGPT regions |
| Price | First dot included in the plan. Pro starts at $100 per month. Pricing for extra dots is not announced |
| Count | One primary dot per user. Teams of dots are planned, not shipped |
What a Dot Can Do Without Asking
The permission model decides how much a dot does on its own, and it is the part brands should read closely. Launch coverage describes four levels that users set through Custom Rules:
| Rule level | Behaviour |
|---|---|
| Act without asking | Low-risk work such as drafting and summarising |
| Act if pre-approved | Only the exact action the user approved, not a whole category |
| Ask before acting | The dot pauses and waits for confirmation |
| Hand off | The dot prepares the work and the user completes it |
Background work that a dot starts on its own is limited to read-only tools. In that mode it cannot send messages, change content in connected apps, or control a browser. Password changes, permanent deletions, and software installs always need approval, and an automatic review of sensitive actions cannot be switched off. When a site needs a login, the user types credentials into a private form that goes to the remote browser, so the model does not see them.
In practice this means the default always-on behaviour is reading, not buying. A dot will monitor, research, compare, and prepare. Spending money or submitting a form is an approved step.
How Dots Differ From Earlier OpenAI Agents
| ChatGPT agent and Operator | Dots | |
|---|---|---|
| Lifetime | One task, then stops | Persistent, works between conversations |
| Trigger | The user asks | A standing goal, a schedule, or activity in a connected app |
| Memory | Session plus ChatGPT memory | Inherits ChatGPT memories and builds new ones from connected apps |
| Where it reports | The chat window | ChatGPT, Slack, or Teams, on its own initiative |
For the earlier product line see the OpenAI Operator update tracker. For the model underneath see the GPT-6 Astra release brief.
What Site Owners Should Know
Dots browse with a real browser. Each dot has its own browser in the cloud, so its visits look like browser sessions from data-center addresses rather than like a crawler. OpenAI has signed ChatGPT agent requests with HTTP Message Signatures since July 2025, using a Signature-Agent header that points to chatgpt.com. OpenAI has not said in the material we reviewed whether dot browsers sign requests the same way, so treat that as unconfirmed and check your own logs.
Bot protection can lock a dot out. A challenge page that a person would click through is a dead end for an unattended agent. If the dot cannot read your pricing page at 3 a.m., the summary its user reads at 9 a.m. is built from whoever it could read. We covered this failure mode in Your Bot Protection Is Working. That Is the Problem.
Logins are supported, but they cost a prompt. Anything behind a login needs the user to complete a sign-in request. Public, crawlable pricing, specs, and documentation get read without that friction.
Brand Visibility Implications
- Recommendations happen when nobody is looking. A dot that monitors a category can shortlist vendors overnight and present three names in Slack. The user never sees the brands that were dropped.
- The audience is small and valuable. Dots sit on plans that start at $100 per month and on business workspaces. That is a narrow slice of ChatGPT's users, weighted toward professionals and buyers.
- Memory compounds. OpenAI says the more a user works with a dot, the more it learns their preferences. A vendor that a dot has already used through a connected app has an advantage that a competitor's better landing page does not easily undo.
- Being a connected app matters. With more than 4,000 apps reachable through plugins, a brand with a plugin can be acted on directly. A brand without one has to be reached through the browser. See how to build an MCP server for your brand.
- Europe is delayed for individuals. Pro users in the EEA, Switzerland, and the UK do not have dots yet, so the effect arrives first in North America and in business workspaces.
What Is Still Unknown
OpenAI has published no benchmarks, success rates, or independent evaluations for dots. Long-term usage limits are not published: usage does not count against plan allowances for the first month after launch. Pricing for additional dots is described only as a future flat monthly fee. Multi-dot teams and the Microsoft Agent 365 integration are announced but not generally available. This page will be updated as those details land.
Methodology
This page is built from vendor announcements and launch-week reporting, not from Presenc AI measurements. Primary sources are used wherever one exists, including Meta's Connect 2026 newsroom post and product blog, xAI's news page, and X's Original Content Rewards help page. Where a detail comes only from press coverage, such as TechCrunch on Dots, Bloomberg on Amazon and Muse, or PPC Land on X Ads MCP, the page says so. These products are new and none of the vendors has published independent success rates. Status as of October 1, 2026.
How Presenc AI Helps
Presenc AI tracks which brands ChatGPT recommends on the prompts your buyers use, and its crawl analytics show which agents reach your site and which get blocked. Together they show whether an always-on agent can read you and whether it names you.