OpenAI’s dots: Always-On Agents That Keep Working After You Close the Tab

OpenAI launched dots, always-on agents powered by GPT-6 Astra. Each dot gets its own cloud computer and can reach more than 4,000 apps, running background research between conversations while asking for approval before it sends, changes, or spends.
artificial-intelligence
software-engineering
Author

Kabui, Charles

Published

2026-10-04

Keywords

openai-dots, always-on-agents, gpt-6-astra, cloud-computer, decisions-api, ai-agents

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OpenAI launched dots on September 29, always-on AI agents that keep working after you close the tab. Each dot runs on GPT-6 Astra, OpenAI’s most capable model, and works on its own cloud computer, a separate machine it uses to browse and run tools without touching your laptop. Through plugins it can reach more than 4,000 apps. You talk to a dot in ChatGPT on desktop, web, or mobile, or in Slack and Teams, and it can carry several projects at once. The first dot is included in Pro and Business Premium plans, though Pro users in the EEA, Switzerland, and the UK are left out for now.

The change from a chatbot is that a dot keeps going without you. It learns your preferences and, between conversations, runs read-only background research, so it cannot send messages or change files on its own. Anything consequential, like sending an email, editing a file, or making a purchase, needs your approval, and changing a password stays with you. OpenAI warns dots can still make mistakes and asks you to review important work.

Always-on agents are not new: Grok Bot and Perplexity’s agent memory got there first. The quieter shift is the Decisions API OpenAI previewed the same day, which returns one answer from a fixed list, not a paragraph, the same idea behind TypeSafe’s Jev. Both point one way: an assistant that works while you are away, and a model that answers with a choice, not a sentence.

Read More: Grok Bot: Agents That Live on a Cloud Computer

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Citation

BibTeX citation:
@misc{kabui2026,
  author = {{Kabui, Charles}},
  title = {OpenAI’s Dots: {Always-On} {Agents} {That} {Keep} {Working}
    {After} {You} {Close} the {Tab}},
  date = {2026-10-04},
  url = {https://toknow.ai/posts/openai-dots-always-on-agents-cloud-computer/},
  langid = {en-GB}
}
For attribution, please cite this work as:
Kabui, Charles. 2026. “OpenAI’s Dots: Always-On Agents That Keep Working After You Close the Tab.” https://toknow.ai/posts/openai-dots-always-on-agents-cloud-computer/.