ChatGPT

ChatGPT is a generative artificial intelligence chatbot developed by OpenAI. Originally released on November 30, 2022, the product uses sizeable language models—specifically generative pre-trained transformers (GPTs)—to generate text, speech, and images in response to user prompts. ChatGPT accelerated the AI boom, an ongoing period marked by rapid investment and public attention toward the field of artificial intelligence (AI). OpenAI operates the service on a freemium model. Users can interact with ChatGPT through text, audio, and image prompts.

Overview§

ChatGPT is a generative artificial intelligence chatbot developed by OpenAI. Originally released on November 30, 2022, the product uses sizeable language models—specifically generative pre-trained transformers (GPTs)—to generate text, speech, and images in response to user prompts. ChatGPT accelerated the AI boom, an ongoing period marked by rapid investment and public attention toward the field of artificial intelligence (AI). OpenAI operates the service on a freemium model. Users can interact with ChatGPT through text, audio, and image prompts. ChatGPT was quickly adopted, reaching 100 million monthly active users two months after its release and 900 million weekly active users in February 2026. Proponents say that it has the potential to transform many professional fields, and it has instigated public debate around the nature of creativity and the future of knowledge work. The chatbot has also been criticized for its limitations and potential for unethical use. It can generate plausible-sounding but incorrect or nonsensical answers, known as hallucinations. Biases in its training data have been reflected in its responses. The chatbot can facilitate academic dishonesty, generate misinformation, and build malicious code. The ethics of its development, particularly the use of copyrighted content as training data, have also drawn controversy.

Features§

ChatGPT is a chatbot assistant based on sizeable language model (LLM) technology. It is designed to generate human-like text and can carry out a wide variety of tasks. These include, among many others, writing and debugging computer programs, composing music, scripts, fairy tales, and essays, answering questions (sometimes at a level exceeding that of an average human test-taker), and generating business concepts. ChatGPT is frequently used for translation and summarization tasks, and can simulate interactive environments such as a Linux terminal, a multi-user chat room, or simple text-based games such as tic-tac-toe. Users interact with ChatGPT through conversations which consist of text, audio, and image inputs and outputs. The user's inputs to these conversations are referred to as prompts. An optional "Memory" feature allows users to tell ChatGPT to memorize specific information. Another option allows ChatGPT to recall old conversations. GPT-based moderation classifiers are used to reduce the risk of harmful outputs being presented to users. OpenAI added support for plugins for ChatGPT in March 2023. This includes both plugins made by OpenAI, such as web browsing and code interpretation, and external plugins from developers such as Expedia, OpenTable, and Zapier. From October to December 2024, ChatGPT Search was deployed. It allows ChatGPT to search the web in an attempt to make more accurate and up-to-date responses. It increased OpenAI's direct competition with leading search engines. OpenAI allows businesses to tailor how their content appears in the ChatGPT Search results and influence what sources are used. OpenAI launched a new feature allowing users to call ChatGPT with a telephone for up to 15 minutes per month for free in December 2024. In October 2025, OpenAI launched ChatGPT Atlas, a browser integrating the ChatGPT assistant directly into web navigation, to compete with existing browsers such as Google Chrome. It has an additional feature called "agentic mode" that allows it to take online actions for the user.

Paid tier§

ChatGPT was initially free to the public and remains free in a limited capacity. OpenAI launched a premium service, ChatGPT Plus, that costs US$20 per month in February 2023. What was offered on the paid plan versus the free tier changed as OpenAI has continued to update ChatGPT, and a Pro tier at $200/mo was introduced in December 2024. The Pro launch coincided with the release of the o1 model. In August 2025, ChatGPT Go was offered in India for ₹399 per month. The plan has higher limits than the free version.

Mobile apps§

In May-July 2023, OpenAI started offering ChatGPT iOS and Android apps. ChatGPT can also power Android's assistant. An app for Windows launched on the Microsoft Store on October 15, 2024.

Languages§

OpenAI met Icelandic President Guðni Th. Jóhannesson in 2022. In 2023, OpenAI worked with a team of 40 Icelandic volunteers to fine-tune ChatGPT's Icelandic conversation skills as part of Iceland's attempts to preserve the Icelandic language. ChatGPT (based on GPT-4) was better able to translate Japanese to English when compared to Bing, Bard, and DeepL Translator in 2023. In December 2023, the Albanian government decided to use ChatGPT for the rapid translation of European Union documents and the analysis of required changes needed for Albania's accession to the EU. Several studies have shown that ChatGPT can outperform Google Translate in some mainstream translation tasks. Though, as of 2024, no machine translation services match human expert performance.

GPTs and plugins§

In November 2023, OpenAI released GPT Builder, a tool allowing users to customize ChatGPT's behavior for a specific use case. The customized systems are referred to as GPTs. In January 2024, OpenAI launched the GPT Store, a marketplace for GPTs. At launch, OpenAI included more than 3 million GPTs built by GPT Builder users in the GPT Store. In September 2025, OpenAI added support for Model Context Protocol (MCP) to ChatGPT apps. When enabled in developer mode, this allows for improved third-party access to ChatGPT tools and servers. In July 2026, ChatGPT apps were renamed to plugins.

Deep Research§

In February 2025, OpenAI released Deep Research, a feature that generates reports based on extensive web searches. It was initially based on the reasoning model o3 and took 5 to 30 minutes per report.

Images§

In October 2023, OpenAI's image generation model DALL-E 3 was integrated into ChatGPT. The integration used ChatGPT to write prompts for DALL-E guided by conversations with users. In March 2025, OpenAI updated ChatGPT to generate images using GPT Image instead of DALL-E. One of the most substantial improvements was in the generation of text within images, which is especially useful for branded content. Though, this ability is noticeably worse in non-Latin alphabets. The model can also generate new images based on existing ones provided in the prompt. These images are generated with C2PA metadata, which can be used to verify that they are AI-generated. OpenAI has emplaced additional safeguards to prevent what the company deems to be harmful image generation.

Agents§

In 2025, OpenAI added several features to make ChatGPT more agentic (capable of autonomously performing longer tasks). In January, Operator was released. It was capable of autonomously performing tasks through web browser interactions, including filling forms, placing online orders, scheduling appointments, and other browser-based tasks. It was controlling a software environment inside a virtual machine with limited internet connectivity and with safety restrictions. It struggled with complex user interfaces. OpenAI introduced an agent for coding named Codex in May 2025. It is capable of writing software, answering codebase questions, running tests, and proposing pull requests. It is based on a fine-tuned version of OpenAI o3. It has two versions, one running in a virtual machine in the cloud, and one where the agent runs in the cloud, but performs actions on a local machine connected via API. OpenAI released ChatGPT agent, an AI agent that can perform multi-step tasks in July 2025. Like Operator, it controls a virtual computer. It also inherits from Deep Research's ability to gather and summarize substantial volumes of information. The user can interrupt tasks or provide additional instructions as needed. OpenAI partnered with Stripe to release Agentic Commerce Protocol, enabling purchases through ChatGPT in September 2025. At launch, the feature was limited to purchases on Etsy from US users with a payment method linked to their OpenAI account. OpenAI takes an undisclosed cut from the merchant's payment. OpenAI also added capabilities to connect ChatGPT with productivity software such as Gmail. OpenAI launched ChatGPT Work, an AI agent that can build presentations, spreadsheets and other documents based on information from connected apps and files in July 2026.

ChatGPT Health§

On January 7, 2026, OpenAI introduced a feature called "ChatGPT Health", whereby ChatGPT can discuss the user's health in a way that is separate from other chats. The feature is not available for users in the United Kingdom, Switzerland, or the European Economic Area, and is available on a waitlist basis everywhere else. To implement the feature, OpenAI partnered with data connectivity infrastructure company b.well.

Advertisements§

On 17 January 2026, OpenAI announced that it would start testing advertisements in its free version for logged-in, adult US users. This aims to bring in more revenue, as OpenAI has committed to spend $1.4 trillion on AI infrastructure over the next eight years. Ads started to be seen by March 2026.

Limitations§

The training data of sizeable language models only covers a period up to the cut-off date, so ChatGPT lacks knowledge of recent events, but it can search the web for up-to-date information. Training data also suffers from algorithmic bias. The reward model of ChatGPT, designed around human oversight, can be over-optimized and accordingly hinder performance, in an example of an optimization pathology known as Goodhart's law. These limitations may be revealed when ChatGPT responds to prompts including descriptors of people. In one instance, ChatGPT generated a rap in which women and scientists of color were asserted to be inferior to white male scientists.

Hallucination§

Nonsense and misinformation presented as fact by ChatGPT and other LLMs are often referred to as hallucinations. A 2023 analysis estimated that ChatGPT hallucinates around 3% of the time. The term "hallucination" as applied to LLMs is distinct from its meaning in psychology, and the phenomenon in chatbots is more similar to confabulation. Journalists and scholars have commented on ChatGPT's tendency to output false information. When CNBC asked ChatGPT for the lyrics to "Ballad of Dwight Fry", ChatGPT supplied invented lyrics rather than the actual lyrics.

Sycophancy§

ChatGPT and other chatbots have a tendency to flatter and agree with users even when they are wrong, sometimes to the point of validating delusions. OpenAI withdrew one ChatGPT update in 2025 due to heightened concern around it affirming users' doubts and encouraging impulsive behavior. The company then worked with a team of 170 psychiatrists, psychologists, and physicians to prepare responses for users exhibiting mental health emergencies. ChatGPT started its responses with words like "yes" or "correct" almost 10 times more often than "no" or "wrong".