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How OpenAI turned its coding tools into dots, an always-on personal assistant

AIOctober 27, 20261 min read

OpenAI has launched dots, an always-on AI assistant that works in the background to help people with their calendar, email, computer and other tools. It grew out of the company's coding tools.

What happened

OpenAI released dots, its personal AI assistant, at its developer day in late September. The assistant runs in the background, even when you do not ask it for anything. It is available in the ChatGPT desktop and mobile apps for paid subscribers on the Pro tier or higher. Once connected to your calendar, email, computer and other tools, it tries to help you get your work done.

Key facts

Plans start at $100 a month.
It is for subscribers on the Pro tier or higher.
Dots was released in late September at OpenAI's developer day.
In early testing, one flag about a calendar conflict came only three minutes before the event.

Where it came from

OpenAI built dots by repackaging the work of its coding tools into something simpler for everyday people. The company was already turning its agentic coding tools, built for software engineers, into ChatGPT Work. Dots can do much of what its Codex coding app does, but Codex needs more work and hand-holding from the user.

Why it matters

Many companies now see the always-on AI assistant as a likely way that people will use AI models in everyday life. The key idea is that the assistant acts on its own, instead of waiting for a prompt. This can help people, but it also means the assistant sees more of your personal information. That raises privacy questions, which are a key tension for these products.

What to watch

Whether dots gets better at timing its alerts, such as calendar conflicts and deadlines.
How OpenAI handles the personal data needed for dots to be useful.
Whether dots reaches more people beyond the Pro tier.
How rival assistants, such as Meta's Muse and Instinct, compete with it.

Glossary

OpenAI: An AI company that makes ChatGPT and the Codex coding tool.
dots: OpenAI's always-on personal AI assistant that works in the background.
Codex: OpenAI's coding tool, released at the start of this year, that helps software engineers write code.
ChatGPT: OpenAI's chatbot app that people use on desktop and mobile.
Muse: Meta's AI assistant, which the article says builds profiles of users' family and friends.

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