ChatGPT in Slack and Teams now means @ChatGPT, a shared assistant your company installs once so anyone in an enabled channel can mention it. It isn't your personal ChatGPT account in a sidebar. It works from the tools your admin connects, and it asks before it acts on your behalf. Here's what it can do, what it can't see and how to get real work out of it, as of October 7, 2026.
If you live in Slack or Microsoft Teams all day, this matters more than another chatbot tab. The assistant shows up where your decisions already happen, so the question shifts from "how do I use ChatGPT" to "what should I hand it in this thread."
What @ChatGPT actually is
OpenAI rolled out @ChatGPT for Slack and Microsoft Teams in late September 2026. You can send it a direct message or mention it in a channel where your organization has turned it on. OpenAI's release notes describe three core jobs: answer questions, summarize discussions and draft work with your teammates.
It's different from two things you may have seen before:
- The ChatGPT app for Slack. That older app lets you chat one on one with your own ChatGPT account inside a Slack sidebar. It's personal. @ChatGPT is shared.
- Connecting Slack inside ChatGPT. That brings Slack context into ChatGPT on chatgpt.com. OpenAI's overview page is clear that connecting Slack this way doesn't install @ChatGPT in your channels.
Who can use it
OpenAI's overview page says @ChatGPT is available globally to Business and Enterprise users. Its feature page and admin setup guide also list Edu, so if you're at a school, check with your admin.
You can't switch it on yourself. A ChatGPT workspace admin connects your Slack workspace or Teams tenant, and a Slack or Teams admin approves the app. If your company already used the older ChatGPT app for Slack, a Slack admin has to approve extra permissions before the new @ChatGPT works.
Here's the part that surprises people. You don't need your own ChatGPT license to use it. OpenAI's feature page says team members without an individual license can use @ChatGPT in enabled channels, depending on how your organization set it up.
What it can and can't see
This is the most important thing to understand before you trust its answers.
@ChatGPT can use the conversation in front of it and the company sources your admin has connected, like a shared drive or a project tracker. It runs through an account set up for the assistant, not through yours. OpenAI's admin documentation says it doesn't inherit a person's file, app or private channel access.
So it doesn't automatically see:
- Your entire channel history
- Your private conversations
- Your personal ChatGPT history
That means you get better results when you give it what it needs. Paste the key details or share a link it can open. You can also connect your own account to give it extra access, for example to read a private document, but that's a separate step and it never happens by default.
One more thing: replies in a shared channel are visible to everyone in that channel. Ask it to share only what's right for that audience.
It asks before it acts
@ChatGPT can do more than talk. If a connected tool supports an action and the account has permission, it can, for example, update a project tracker with the owners and dates your team just agreed on.
It won't do that silently. OpenAI says ChatGPT asks for your approval before taking action in connected tools. In Slack, that can appear as a private approval card with Allow and Deny buttons that only you see. The approval is private, but the result it posts back to the thread isn't.
Four ways to use it this week
You don't need a big rollout plan. Start with jobs you already do by hand.
- Turn a long thread into decisions. Mention @ChatGPT at the bottom of a messy thread and ask: "Summarize what we decided, who owns what and what's still open."
- Draft the status update. Ask it to write this week's update from the thread plus a linked doc. Then edit it so it sounds like you.
- Answer the repeat question. If your admin connected your team's docs, point new teammates at @ChatGPT for the "where's the template" questions.
- Update the tracker. After a planning chat, ask it to add the agreed tasks to your tracker. Review the approval card before you click Allow.
In each case, check the output before it leaves the thread. It's a fast first draft, not the final word.
A quick note on the Meetings plugin
OpenAI also launched a separate Meetings plugin in late September 2026. Its release notes say it takes notes from what's said in a meeting and saves summaries with action items. It's a beta in the ChatGPT desktop app on macOS for Pro and Business users, with Enterprise coming. OpenAI says the audio is deleted once your notes are ready and can't be replayed. It's useful alongside @ChatGPT, but it isn't part of it, and you're responsible for telling people you're recording.
Where Dots fits
Don't confuse @ChatGPT with Dots. A dot is your own always on agent that keeps working in the background and checks in when it needs a decision. @ChatGPT is a shared teammate in a channel. If you want the personal version, read our guide to ChatGPT Dots.
The bottom line
@ChatGPT is worth turning on if your team already makes decisions in Slack or Teams. Its value depends almost entirely on what your admin connects and how clearly you ask. If you're newer to ChatGPT itself, start with our guide on how to use ChatGPT. If you want to see what else OpenAI is building for work, our ChatGPT Sites explainer and the AI tools hub are good next reads.
The skill that carries over to every one of these tools is the same: brief the AI clearly, give it the right context and review its work before it reaches anyone else. If you'd like to build that habit around your actual job, with live guidance and no coding, a short program is a good place to start.