OpenAI will merge ChatGPT’s Chat and Work tabs, starting with select users

OpenAI is preparing to remove the divide between asking ChatGPT a question and giving it a task. The company told users by email that it plans to merge the Chat and Work tabs, TechCrunch reported November 2. The intended result is one place to develop an idea and have ChatGPT carry it out.

The desktop app currently has ChatGPT and Codex sections, with Chat and Work tabs inside the ChatGPT section. That gives users several places to navigate before settling into a project. The planned merger changes the division within ChatGPT rather than combining every part of the desktop app.

OpenAI’s next step is a feedback phase, not an immediate release to everyone. The company says select users will receive the merged experience first, before a wider rollout. That makes the email a statement of the planned transition, rather than confirmation that all users can access it now.

This will enable you to move from exploring an idea to having ChatGPT carry it through, all in one place.

OpenAI, in an email to users quoted by TechCrunch

OpenAI describes a workflow in which users bring files and plugins into ChatGPT, then ask it to build a website, create a presentation or perform tasks on the web. Users would review and guide the work as it proceeds. These are the company’s examples of how the merged experience is intended to work, not demonstrated results from the feedback phase.

Codex will remain a separate experience in the ChatGPT desktop app. But OpenAI says the transition will put ChatGPT and Codex on the same token allowance pool. The interface boundary and the usage boundary will therefore be different: a separate place to use Codex will not mean a separate allowance.

OpenAI expects that allowance change will not affect most users. Depending on their usage and chosen model, however, some may have to wait for allowance resets more frequently. That is the practical qualification alongside the simpler interface: the company is bringing more work into one place while also sharing the usage budget across the two experiences.