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OpenAI says its always-on assistant dots was built from its coding agent tools
OpenAI's Alexander Embiricos said the company built dots, its proactive personal assistant, by repackaging functionality from its agentic coding tools. Dots runs in the background with access to a user's calendar, email and computer, and is available to ChatGPT Pro subscribers and above, with plans starting at $100 a month. OpenAI is in talks with payment processors, he said.
Key points
- Dots was built by repackaging functionality from OpenAI's agentic coding tools.
- It is available to ChatGPT Pro subscribers and above, with plans from $100 a month.
- OpenAI is in talks with payment processors, Embiricos said, without further details.
What happened: Alexander Embiricos, who leads OpenAI's enterprise product team, explained at TechCrunch Disrupt how the company turned its agentic coding tools into dots, an always-on personal assistant, TechCrunch reported. OpenAI released dots at its developer day in late September.
The details: Once connected to a user's calendar, email, computer and other tools, dots works in the background without being prompted. On a regular cadence it reviews what it knows about the user and the access it has, then proposes actions. It flags calendar conflicts and deadlines, though in one early case it warned Embiricos about a conflict three minutes before it happened. Dots is available in the ChatGPT desktop and mobile apps for Pro subscribers and above, with plans starting at $100 a month. Embiricos said much of its functionality could be done with Codex, but with more work.
Who it affects: OpenAI says dots has the same privacy controls as ChatGPT, including turning off model training. TechCrunch said those controls are not granular and dots refuses read-only access to cloud drives. Its conservative launch defaults, which asked for permission often, drew criticism. Embiricos said the team needs to build "super, super, super granular controls."
What to watch: Embiricos said OpenAI is "deep in lots of conversations with payment processors" but gave no details. OpenAI has not disclosed user numbers or timelines for finer controls.
Our take
Always-on assistants with broad account access are arriving fast, so teams should check permission controls before connecting work email and calendars.