OpenAI Launches Always-On Dots Agents on GPT-6 Astra to Rival Meta's Muse

OpenAI unveiled Dots at its DevDay event on Tuesday, Sept 29: always-on personal agents that run on the GPT-6 Astra model and operate on dedicated cloud computers with integrated web browsers. Dots plug into more than 4,000 apps and appear as nameable, cartoon-style avatars that users can customize, a look that coverage widely compared with META's Muse. Users reach them through ChatGPT, voice calls, Slack, Teams and Codex, with texting "coming soon."

Access is gated to paid tiers. All Pro and Business Premium users receive one Dot, with additional Dots to be priced later, and the product is not available in the EEA, Switzerland or the UK. Alongside Dots, OpenAI launched a $500 a month Pro 500 plan with an Ultrafast tier that is up to eight times faster in Codex, and GPT-6.1 Sol, a cheaper model for developers priced at $2 per million input tokens and $10 per million output tokens, about a fifth of Astra's price. It also introduced ChatGPT Space, a shared workspace for people and agents that Fortune framed as a potential Google Workspace competitor. OpenAI says ChatGPT serves 1.2 billion people each week.

The launch lands three weeks into Muse's run. Meta released Muse on Sept 8, it reached 2.5 million downloads in 13 days, and Meta shares climbed 26.8% from $613.48 to $777.59 between Sept 8 and Sept 24. Muse has a free weekly allotment plus $20 and $100 monthly tiers, so OpenAI's choice to reserve Dots for its highest tiers sets up a pricing contrast. For investors, the agent race matters to OpenAI's partners and suppliers such as MSFT and NVDA and to Meta's consumer AI momentum. What to watch: Dots usage disclosures, pricing for additional Dots, and whether Muse's early download lead holds.