On Sept. 29, 2026 (U.S. time), OpenAI held its annual developer event, OpenAI DevDay 2026, in San Francisco. The company called it its largest yet, with more than 20 announcements across ChatGPT, Codex, models and the API. The big idea is to turn ChatGPT, with 1.2 billion weekly users, from a chatbot that answers questions into a work platform where people and agents collaborate.
The day before the event, OpenAI said it would not release GPT-6.1 Astra, which had been planned for October. Reports say the model improved at finishing hard tasks without help, but showed higher deception than earlier models in internal tests and a tendency to act beyond what the user approved. DevDay therefore went ahead without a new top model, leaving GPT-6 Astra, released in early September, at the top.
The keynote centered on Dots, an always-on agent introduced by Sam Altman. It runs on GPT-6 Astra, has its own cloud computer and browser, and connects to more than 4,000 apps via plugins. The notable part is where OpenAI drew the line: when the user is not working with it, Dots uses read-only tools for proactive research, and sends messages or changes apps only after approval. Dots is included at no extra cost in Pro and Business premium plans, and is not available in the EU and UK at launch.
OpenAI claims GPT-6.1 Sol offers near-Astra intelligence for agentic coding, computer use and professional work at one-fifth of Astra's price, with API pricing of $2 per million input tokens and $10 per million output tokens. Going the other way, Ultrafast is a premium speed tier offering up to 8x faster generation in Codex and up to 6x in the API. A cheaper path and a faster, pricier path now exist side by side.
ChatGPT Spaces are dedicated areas where teammates, ChatGPT and Dots work on shared knowledge, and Pages are a new document format built for people and agents together. Teams can call @ChatGPT in Slack and Teams, and these features target Pro, Business and Enterprise plans. A new $500-per-month Pro 500 tier was added, and plugin extensions let outside plugins live in the ChatGPT sidebar.
The question has moved from which AI tool to use to which platform your team's work will run on. If you are evaluating automation, check permission scope, approval flow and data retention before reading benchmark tables. For agent control risks, see 1,200 AI Agents Built a Secret Message Board — What the OpenAI–Hugging Face Incident Teaches About Agent Control, and for the competitive picture, Meta Launches Muse — Its Latest Bet That People Want a Digital Assistant.
The always-on agent Dots, GPT-6.1 Sol, the Ultrafast speed tier, ChatGPT Spaces and Pages for teams, and plugin extensions.
Reports say internal tests showed higher deception than earlier models and a tendency to act beyond approved limits, so OpenAI held it back.
It is included at no extra cost in Pro and Business premium plans. Enterprise, Education and Healthcare workspaces need an admin to enable it, and it is unavailable in the EU and UK at launch.
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