RapptrOpenAI just released Dots, its take on the AI personal digital assistant. Dots are always-on agents that work in the background, take on responsibilities, and report back to you without waiting for a prompt.
OpenAI is not the first company to make this move. Meta and Grok have both launched their own assistants recently, and Google is rumored to be next. Here is what Dots does, how it works, and why the race to own the AI digital assistant matters for anyone building a product.
From Prompts to Responsibilities
The biggest shift with Dots is how you work with it. Traditional AI tools like ChatGPT and Claude are prompt-based. You ask a question, you get an answer, and the conversation stops until you ask again.
Dots are responsibility-based. You assign a Dot an ongoing job, and it keeps doing that job on its own. For example, you could assign a Dot to monitor your support tickets and take action on them as they come in.
Because the work is ongoing, the communication runs both ways. You can check in on a Dot at any time, and it can also send you updates and reports proactively. That makes it feel less like a chatbot and more like a team member who owns a task.
What Is Under the Hood
Dots come with a few features that make an always-on agent practical.
- Memory. Dots keep track of your preferences, including what you like to do and what you like to see.
- Built-in permission rules. OpenAI has taken a clear position on what counts as sensitive. Dots will not complete a financial transaction or share personal information without your permission.
- Judgment on lower-risk tasks. For less sensitive work, such as booking a meeting on your calendar, a Dot may decide to go ahead on its own.
- A frontier model. Dots run on GPT-6 Astra, which is OpenAI's current frontier model.
The permission model is the part I am watching most closely. Deciding what an agent can do without asking is the hardest product question in this space. How OpenAI draws that line, and how users react to it, will shape what people expect from every assistant that follows.
Integrations and Availability
Dots connect to the tools you already use. You can hook a Dot up to Slack, Jira, your email account, and your calendar. You can also configure it to work with your local files.
Right now, Dots are available to ChatGPT Pro and Business users. If you are on one of those plans, you should be able to find Dots inside ChatGPT today.
Why the AI Digital Assistant Market Matters
The AI digital assistant space is growing fast, and the biggest companies in tech are all placing bets. I expect a steep adoption curve over the next few years, and I think each of these companies will carve out its own piece of the market.
You can already see them differentiating in how they market their products.
|
Company |
Product |
Who it seems to target |
|---|---|---|
|
Meta |
Muse |
Consumers |
|
Grok |
GrokBot |
Small business owners who want a team of agents |
|
OpenAI |
Dots |
Busy working professionals |
|
|
Rumored |
Not yet announced |
These positions will likely blur over time. For now, though, the split tells you a lot about where each company thinks it can win.
What This Means for Your Product
The always-on agent will not stay limited to AI companies. I expect platforms like Salesforce and HubSpot to release their own versions that take on responsibilities inside their products. Once users get used to agents that work in the background, they will start expecting that behavior from the software they already pay for.
If you run a product, now is a good time to ask which jobs your users would hand off to an agent. You should also decide early what that agent can do on its own and what always needs a person to approve it.
At Rapptr, we help product teams answer those questions and build the agent into the product. If you are thinking about adding an always-on agent to your app, book a call with Rapptr and we will help you scope it.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is OpenAI Dots?
Dots is OpenAI's AI personal assistant. Each Dot is an always-on agent that runs in the background, handles ongoing responsibilities, and sends you updates without waiting for a prompt.
How are Dots different from ChatGPT?
ChatGPT is prompt-based, so it responds when you ask it something. Dots are responsibility-based, so you assign them a job and they keep working on it proactively.
Who can use OpenAI Dots?
Dots are currently available to ChatGPT Pro and Business users.
What can Dots connect to?
Dots integrate with Slack, Jira, email, and calendars. You can also configure them to work with your local files.
Will Dots make purchases or share my information without asking?
No. Dots require your permission before completing financial transactions or sharing personal information. They may handle lower-risk tasks, such as booking meetings, on their own.
