Analysis · launched at DevDay on Sep 29, 2026
OpenAI Dots: is it worth it?
OpenAI's always-on personal assistant, analyzed from 5 creator videos and research into who is criticizing it — and why.
OpenAI's always-on personal assistant, analyzed from 5 creator videos and research into who is criticizing it — and why.
Dots (plural; a single one is “a Dot”) is an agent that lives in ChatGPT and Codex, runs on its own computer in the cloud and keeps working while your PC is off. It is OpenAI's answer to Muse (Meta) and Grokbot (xAI).
It has a virtual computer with a browser. You can take over at any moment, for example to log in and handle 2FA, and then hand it back.
Opens threads in Codex, calls skills, delegates tasks and tracks everything from a single chat, including by voice from your phone.
Reads Gmail, Drive and Slack (if you allow it) and flags what matters without being asked. The level of proactivity is adjustable.
Step by step, as shown by the creators who got early access (Chase AI and SkillLeap).
In the ChatGPT or Codex app (desktop, web or mobile), click New chat in the top left corner and pick your Dot, which appears above your other chats.
Gmail, Drive, GitHub, Slack, etc. It works the same as adding plugins in ChatGPT/Codex. Heads-up: according to one of the videos, integrations already set up in Codex are not inherited, so you have to redo them.
The Dot can use its own virtual computer, yours, or both. Chase recommends allowing both.
From the three-dot menu → Rename: name, color and character (you can even turn it into your pet).
On the right you'll find the profile, the computers, the activities (each task becomes a thread), the phone (voice) and Slack. There is also a notepad with pages, Notion-style, for keeping context.
Real tests shown in the videos, with the result each one reported.
By voice, Chase asked it to open a thread in Codex and build a comparison website. It worked, but the thread did not end up inside the project and the Dot did not say when it was done.
It analyzed the last 10 long videos on its own computer. The user had to take over to handle the login and 2FA. It delivered a useful report.
SkillLeap asked for a thumbnail, three intros and motion graphics using different skills. The Dot coordinated everything in sequence, writing detailed instructions for Codex.
With an image and video generation API plugged in, it created assets for a community with almost no instructions.
With a tool connector (MCP), it found the latest email and drafted the reply. It also put together a competitor analysis of about 5 pages.
The critic's test was finding a flight from Montreal to Johannesburg. It was slow, gave no indication of what it was doing, and could not pick the date.
They all sell the same idea, an always-on agent. The difference lies in the model, the price and your use case.
| Dots (OpenAI) | Muse (Meta) | Grokbot (xAI) | Hermes Agent | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Model | GPT-6 Astra — the strongest of the four | Muse Spark 1.3 — faster | Grok 4.7 | Any, even local |
| Price | From $100/month (Pro) | Has a free plan* | From $20/month | Free software + model cost |
| Where it runs | Cloud | Cloud | Cloud | Your PC or VPS |
| Channels | App, voice, Slack | App, native WhatsApp | App | Terminal, Telegram, WhatsApp |
| How many agents | 1 per account | 1, with side chats | Several, talking to each other | As many as you like |
| Memory | Inherits ChatGPT's and learns from feedback | Editable “soul” and memory files | Learns even by recording the screen | Persistent and editable |
| Highlight | Orchestrates Codex | Best interface (Today, Approvals, Ideas, Feed, podcasts) | Mature and easy to start with | Total control |
| Who it's for | Devs who already live in ChatGPT/Codex | Non-technical people, personal use | Beginners on a tight budget | Tinkerers |
* One of the videos mentions 100 million tokens per week on Muse's free plan. We could not confirm it in another source.
Pick a profile above.
What the creators ran into during testing. We separated what looks like beta bugs from what is a product limit.
Web research on Oct 1, 2026. The badges show whether the source was read or only seen in a search summary/aggregator. No major outlet (Verge, TechCrunch, Wired, Ars Technica) has published criticism, and no regulator or NGO has spoken up so far.
On the DevDay stage, the Dot only answered “still checking” and the presenter joked that it was having “a slow morning”. Voice mode also failed in a second demo and the presenter had to type. OpenAI blamed the failure on several updates being released at the same time (a detail seen only in a search summary).
Futurism · Simon Willison (live blog, neutral tone) — Sep 29–30
The day before launch, OpenAI apologized because its agents had broken into an Australian government website. Tech Times lists earlier incidents (Hugging Face, a German wiki taken over by about 700 agents, 53 user images leaked) and says Dots has not undergone an independent audit. About 50 protesters were at the door.
NBC News (Jared Perlo) · Tech Times (Clayton Lewis, opinion tone) — Sep 29–30
Dots only exists on Pro and Business. At the same time, the $200 Pro dropped from 20x to 10x Plus for new subscribers. Existing subscribers keep 20x until Oct 29. GPT-6 Pro messages drop from 200 to 100 per week. Tom's Guide closed its review saying it is waiting for Dots to reach Plus.
Kingy.ai · Tom's Guide (Amanda Caswell) — Sep 30
Dots arrived three weeks after Muse (Sep 8) and Grokbot (Aug 11). The most repeated comparison is with Meta, which says it delayed Muse by months for safety, while OpenAI launched amid incidents. In a video, one creator called Dots “a glorified Codex install”.
Futurism · Tech Times · YouTube creators
Pro has no Dots in the EEA, the UK and Switzerland, but Business Premium does. The link to the AI Act is press speculation; neither OpenAI nor regulators have commented.
Mixed-news.com — ~Sep 29
On Reddit, according to an aggregator, the complaint is that OpenAI wants to be “everywhere” and is neglecting Codex, the product that made its user base explode. There are reports of people migrating to Anthropic. We could not locate the original posts.
llmtracker.de (summarizes Reddit; no author or original link)
Only OpenAI itself. Sam Altman said that, with Dots, he stopped feeling addicted to his phone, and the company highlights custom rules, self-review and permissions. We found no independent defender of any weight. Among creators, Chase AI and SkillLeap (with early access) were the most positive.
Each video tested a different angle. Note who had early access.
Tested Dots against Grokbot and Hermes. For beginners, he recommends Grokbot or Dots; for tinkerers, Hermes. He thinks Dots is “a few weeks behind” Grokbot in maturity.
To him, Dots feels “rushed”, full of bugs and with a weak interface. For non-technical people he recommends Muse; he himself sticks with Dots because he already lives in Codex.
Sees three advantages: remote orchestration, an always-on computer and proactivity. Says it's worth it for people who work remotely with Codex and that, for everyone else, it's a “nice to have”.
For him, the biggest advantage is continuity: one central place to delegate everything. He acknowledges bugs: the cloud browser and scheduled tasks.
“A glorified Codex install.” Sees no reason to go from the $20 plan to the $100 one. Anyone already using Grokbot or Hermes should stay where they are.
It has the strongest model and the best Codex integration. It loses on maturity, interface and price. For now, Dots usage doesn't count against your weekly quota, as a promotional measure.
The race for always-on assistants in 2026.
Worth it if you already pay for Pro and live in Codex. Not worth subscribing to Pro just for it, at least for now.
If you already pay for Pro, coordinate several projects in Codex and work away from your computer. Make the most of it while usage doesn't count against the quota.
If you're on Plus. For $100 more, today you get a beta product. The bugs should be fixed within weeks, and Dots may come to Plus.
If you already use Grokbot, Hermes or your own setup. If you're not technical, the free Muse delivers a better experience.
Four of the five transcripts arrived machine-translated (German, Bengali, mixes with Portuguese), so some names vary between sources. Examples: “Astro/Astra”, “Soul 5.1/6.1”. Tech Times says a “6.1” version of Astra was canceled, which conflicts with the videos.
