Hajra Naz
OpenAI is rolling out a new feature inside ChatGPT called Pulse. This tool creates personalized daily reports for users—delivered while they sleep. The idea is simple: when you wake up, Pulse has already prepared five to ten short briefs to help you start your day.
Think of it like a morning AI assistant. Instead of checking Twitter, Instagram, or Apple News first thing, OpenAI wants people to check ChatGPT Pulse.
What is ChatGPT Pulse?
Pulse is designed to work asynchronously, meaning it works in the background even when you’re not actively chatting. Instead of only answering questions, ChatGPT now acts more like a proactive assistant.
Users can wake up to reports on the news, sports highlights, travel plans, or even personal recommendations. For example, Pulse can create a customized agenda for your day, a summary of unread emails, or even suggestions for family activities.
Each report appears as a card with AI-generated images and short text. Users can tap on them to see more details or ask follow-up questions.
Why Pulse Matters
Pulse marks a big shift in OpenAI’s consumer products. The company wants ChatGPT to feel more like a personal digital assistant and less like a simple chatbot.
Fidji Simo, OpenAI’s CEO of Applications, explained:
“We’re building AI that takes the kind of support once reserved for the wealthy and makes it available to everyone. ChatGPT Pulse is the first step in that direction.”
This means OpenAI isn’t just building a Q&A bot—it’s building a tool that can plan, summarize, and anticipate needs.
Availability and Pricing
Pulse is not free—at least not yet. Starting Thursday, it will roll out to users on the $200/month Pro plan.
OpenAI has made it clear that Pulse is compute-intensive. That means it uses a lot of server power to run. Right now, OpenAI says it doesn’t have enough capacity to offer it to everyone.
The plan is to launch Pulse to ChatGPT Plus subscribers soon and then eventually expand it to all users. But for now, Pro users get it first.
How Pulse Works
Here’s how Pulse can be used:
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Morning briefing: Get 5–10 cards with news, weather, and reminders.
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Personalized reports: Roundups about your favorite sports team, TV shows, or hobbies.
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Family planning: Ideas for group activities, itineraries, or even travel plans.
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Productivity boost: Syncs with Gmail and Google Calendar to highlight top emails and meetings.
If you use ChatGPT’s memory, Pulse can even recall details from previous chats. For example, if you told ChatGPT that you’re a vegetarian, Pulse will filter restaurant suggestions to fit your diet.
Example Use Cases
In a demo:
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One report summarized news about Arsenal Football Club.
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Another suggested Halloween costume idea for a family.
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A third created a toddler-friendly travel plan for Sedona, Arizona.
This demonstrates how Pulse seamlessly integrates personal life planning, news aggregation, and productivity tools into a single experience.
How Pulse Stands Out
Unlike social media apps that want to keep you scrolling endlessly, Pulse is designed to end quickly.
After showing a few reports, it says, “Great, that’s it for today.” This design choice makes Pulse feel less addictive and more focused on value.
It also cites its sources, much like ChatGPT Search. That means you can verify the source of the information instead of blindly trusting it.
Competing with News Apps and Productivity Tools
Pulse also signals OpenAI’s quiet entry into the digital news and productivity space. By offering curated roundups and citing sources with links (similar to ChatGPT Search), Pulse could compete with Apple News, Google Discover, paid newsletters, and even productivity apps like Notion AI or Rewind AI.
However, OpenAI emphasizes that Pulse is not meant to replace traditional journalism or apps. Instead, it acts as a layer of personalization on top of existing tools — a way to filter, organize, and contextualize information that matters most to each user.
Future Plans for Pulse
Right now, Pulse generates reports and summaries. But OpenAI has bigger ambitions.
In the future, Pulse may:
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Make restaurant reservations on your behalf.
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Draft and schedule emails.
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Manage personal and professional tasks automatically.
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functions more like an AI agent than a static tool.
This is where agentic AI comes in, a growing trend in 2025 where AI tools act independently to complete tasks.
But OpenAI admits this future is still far off. People may not fully trust AI to make such decisions yet, and the tech needs further improvements.
Key Stats to Know
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OpenAI’s ChatGPT app has over 180 million active users worldwide as of 2025.
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Subscription revenue from ChatGPT Plus ($20/month) and Pro ($200/month) is helping OpenAI fund massive AI data centers.
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Partnerships with Oracle and SoftBank are expanding OpenAI’s cloud infrastructure to support features like Pulse.
Final Thoughts
OpenAI Pulse could reshape how people start their mornings. Instead of bouncing between apps, emails, and news sites, Pulse offers a single AI-powered hub for information and planning.
If successful, Pulse could push ChatGPT beyond chatbots into the space of true AI assistants.
But the big question remains: will users see enough value to pay $200 a month for it?
FAQs
1. Is ChatGPT Pulse available for free users?
No. Currently, Pulse is only available on the $200/month Pro plan. OpenAI plans to expand access later.
2. Can Pulse connect to my Gmail or Google Calendar?
Yes. With ChatGPT Connectors, Pulse can pull emails, calendar events, and create summaries or agendas.
3. Will Pulse replace news apps like Apple News?
Not exactly. Pulse summarizes and personalizes content, but it also cites sources. It’s more of a companion tool than a replacement.
4. How is Pulse different from ChatGPT memory?
Memory recalls past conversations. Pulse uses memory plus daily context to create new, proactive reports.
5. Will Pulse be able to make reservations or send emails in the future?
Yes, OpenAI plans to make Pulse more agentic over time. That means it could book restaurants, draft emails, and manage tasks—pending improvements.
