OpenAI is preparing to bring ChatGPT’s Chat and Work tabs into one experience. The company says the change is intended to help users move from exploring an idea to asking ChatGPT to carry it out, without switching between those tabs.
The combined experience will first be made available to select users for feedback. OpenAI has not said when it will reach a wider audience.
One place to explore and get work done
ChatGPT’s desktop app currently has ChatGPT and Codex sections, with Chat and Work tabs within ChatGPT. That arrangement can make it harder to keep track of where a project is happening, according to the article.
OpenAI described the planned change in an email to users. In the unified ChatGPT experience, people will be able to bring in files and plugins, ask ChatGPT to build a website or create a presentation, and request actions on the web. They will also be able to review and guide the work as it happens.
The idea is to connect the stages of a task. Someone could start by exploring an idea and then continue by asking ChatGPT to produce something or take action, all in one place. The company’s description puts review and guidance alongside those capabilities.
Codex stays separate, while token use changes
The merge applies to Chat and Work within ChatGPT. OpenAI said Codex will remain a separate experience in the ChatGPT desktop app, so the two sections will not become a single interface.
There is also a change to how usage is allocated: ChatGPT and Codex will draw tokens from the same allowance pool. OpenAI said this will not affect most users. Depending on a person’s usage and model, however, some may have to wait for resets more often.
That means the interface change and the allowance change have different effects. Bringing Chat and Work together is meant to make it easier to move through a task, while sharing the pool may matter to people whose usage or model leads them to use tokens more quickly.
A staged rollout and a competitor’s move
OpenAI plans to start with select users, using their feedback before making the experience more widely available. The article does not give a date for that broader rollout, so the timing remains unspecified.
The change follows a similar move by rival Anthropic. The article reports that Anthropic merged Claude’s chat and Cowork functions into one screen in September. The comparison places OpenAI’s planned change among efforts to bring conversational and task-oriented work together, while the details here remain specific to ChatGPT.
For ChatGPT users, the immediate picture is a more unified place to explore ideas and direct work, with Codex still distinct and tokens shared across both. How the experience works in practice will first be shaped by feedback from the selected users.