OpenAI unveils always‑on AI agents called “Dots” to compete with Meta’s Muse

OpenAI’s Dots are powered by the startup’s GPT-6 Astra model. A core selling point is their “always-on” design—unlike a single-turn chatbot experience, these agents constantly crawl the web and attempt to complete whatever task you assign to them. Dots also pull context from connected apps and learn more about your preferences over time.

In one demo example shared by OpenAI, a user’s Dot helps plan dinner. The Dot proactively saw that the user’s calendar showed they were working through dinner and messaged with two GrubHub food delivery options with pricing for each. The user followed up with their food pick and when they wanted it ordered.

In another example, a user collaborated with the agent to launch a new website. Users can message Dots through ChatGPT, Slack, and Microsoft Teams, with the user’s context shared with Dots across modes. In addition, Pro users can join a waitlist to text with their Dots in iMessage or RCS messaging on Android.

The Dots rollout starts today for subscribers to ChatGPT’s Pro tier that costs $100 a month. OpenAI often launches new features first for this higher subscription tier and then rolls them out to a larger subset of users over time. Users can start by controlling one Dot, but the company is expected to eventually roll out the ability to control multiple agents at the same time.

The Dots launch is also part of OpenAI doubling down on its efforts to attract more enterprise clients. On stage at DevDay, CEO Sam Altman announced “specialist Dots” for enterprise customers tuned for specific tasks, like accounting, email marketing, and legal analysis. It adds to the trend of AI agent coworkers being integrated into more professional workflows.

Dots are designed to get explicit approval before taking more sensitive actions on a user's behalf, like installing software or changing a password. Users can enable a Custom Rules tool to set explicit boundaries that they don't want agents to cross, as well as tasks that need more direct permission to complete.

As users connect their data and use agents, it's worth keeping potential security and privacy risks top of mind. OpenAI built safety guardrails into these Dots, but even so, asking agents to automate aspects of your life involves trusting the tools won’t accidentally share information you didn’t intend or get tricked by an online adversary into taking actions you didn’t want.

Exercise caution when interacting with this nascent software and connecting data from your pre-existing apps. Also, if your OpenAI account is set to allow model training on your data, this setting carries over to your interactions with the agents. Personal agents are currently having a breakthrough moment.

While this year started with early adopters in Silicon Valley latching onto tools like OpenClaw, the recent release of Meta’s Muse agent reached a larger user base that is now experimenting with personalized agents. Muse rocketed to the top of smartphone app download charts, but Dots has come for Meta's lunch.

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.