OpenAI introduced "dots," an always-on AI personal assistant, at its developer day in late September 2026. The product, available to ChatGPT Pro users for $100 a month, integrates with calendars, email, and computers to help users complete tasks proactively. Alexander Embiricos, who leads OpenAI’s enterprise product team, explained at TechCrunch Disrupt how dots evolved from the company's earlier coding tools, emphasizing its design as a single conversational entity meant to make AI assistance both intuitive and useful.

Dots represents OpenAI’s shift from specialized coding applications to a more accessible personal assistant that operates continuously in the background without constant prompting. This assistant can analyze calendar conflicts, deadlines, and other data to offer timely and helpful suggestions, although the timing of notifications is still being refined. Embiricos shared an example where an engineer’s dot at a drone delivery startup detected and analyzed an outage before the engineer was even aware of it, showcasing the assistant's potential to foresee and address real-world problems.

The introduction of dots also brings privacy considerations to the forefront. While it performs proactive research based on user data to enhance assistance, OpenAI offers controls like turning off model training and managing app permissions. Still, these controls lack fine granularity, and the app requires full access to certain resources, sparking a conversation about balancing utility with privacy. Embiricos acknowledged this challenge and highlighted the ongoing effort to improve user control over the assistant’s data access.

Looking ahead, OpenAI is exploring expanded functions for dots, such as working with payment processors, which could enable the assistant to perform transactions on behalf of users. However, Embiricos and others recognize the hurdles of scaling personal AI agents broadly, as many users and businesses prefer interactions with humans over AI agents. OpenAI plans to continue collaborating closely with the ecosystem to introduce new features carefully, reinforcing its goal to make AI assistants both practical and secure for everyday use.