OpenAI is letting ChatGPT's proactive agent, known internally as dot, text you back. Starting this week, the feature that previously lived only inside the ChatGPT app on mobile, desktop and the web now works through iMessage and RCS, OpenAI said in a post on X spotted by 9to5Mac on Tuesday.
Dot is the name OpenAI uses for the always-on version of ChatGPT that can be handed an ongoing task, something to track, or a reminder to chase, rather than a single back-and-forth chat. Until now, checking in with it meant opening the ChatGPT app itself. That changes with this rollout.
Users can now text their dot directly through the Messages app, sending it a task, a photo or a voice note, and it will text back proactively with updates as it works. OpenAI described it as "safe, secure texting via iMessage or RCS," the same encrypted and carrier-grade protocols that already carry most phone-to-phone messages on iPhone and Android.
Setting it up is simple enough. Tap your dot's profile inside the ChatGPT app and select "Texting" to link it to your phone number. OpenAI says the assistant keeps the same context and the same plugins no matter which surface you reach it from, so a task you start in the app can be picked up over text and vice versa. OpenAI has also been explicit that the feature does not give dot, or the company, access to the rest of your text conversations. It only sees what you send it directly.
The move to RCS and iMessage opens a few doors beyond convenience. Because RCS and iMessage both run on devices that don't require the full ChatGPT app to be open, 9to5Mac noted the change could, in theory, bring dot to the Apple Watch for the first time in an official way, since Messages already works on Apple's smartwatch without a companion phone nearby. OpenAI hasn't confirmed Watch support directly, and 9to5Mac said it would need to test the integration to be sure it actually functions there.
There's also a voice angle. ChatGPT has offered a simulated "calling" feature for a while, letting users talk to the assistant like a phone call. Text-based voice notes sent through Messages could give dot another route into voice interaction that doesn't depend on that built-in calling tool, though OpenAI hasn't detailed exactly how far that extends yet.
For now, the headline change is simpler: ChatGPT's agent is no longer stuck behind the ChatGPT app icon. It lives, at least partly, in the same thread as texts from your friends and family. OpenAI hasn't said whether the feature is rolling out to all ChatGPT tiers at once or staggered by plan, and hasn't given a timeline for the promised Apple Watch access. Those details should surface as more users find the "Texting" option under their dot's profile in the coming days.
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Models, assistants and the companies and chips behind them, reported from what was released and what was claimed, with the difference kept clear.
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