ChatGPT Agent: The AI Assistant That Thinks and Acts for You.

Imagine telling your AI assistant, “Plan a surprise birthday dinner for my partner next Saturday”—and it immediately browses restaurant menus, checks availabilities, orders flowers online, and composes a schedule, all on your behalf. This is the promise of ChatGPT Agent, a new AI “agent mode” in ChatGPT. It transforms ChatGPT from a conversational chatbot into a proactive assistant that acts on your instructions. In AI terms, this leverages the concept of an agent: an autonomous system that perceives its environment and takes goal-directed actions. ChatGPT Agent unifies OpenAI’s earlier research tools (web browsing Operator and analysis-oriented Deep Research) with GPT’s conversational intelligence into one “agentic” system.

In this post we’ll explain what agents are, how ChatGPT’s new Agent and Agent Mode work, who can access it, what a “chatbot agent” means, and how ChatGPT Agent differs from regular ChatGPT and other platforms like AgentGPT.

What Is an Agent in AI?

In AI, an agent is any autonomous entity that perceives its environment, reasonably decides what to do, and then acts to achieve specific goals. By definition, agents use “sensors” (to observe) and “actuators” (to take action) to interact with their world. For example, a thermostat sensing temperature and turning on a heater is an extremely simple agent, while a human or a complex software robot can also be considered an intelligent agent if they behave goal‐directedly.

• Perception and Action: An AI agent observes inputs (text, images, sensor data, etc.) and acts (by outputting text, clicking, controlling devices, etc.). For example, “an agent perceives its environment via sensors and acts…using actuators,” following a perceive-think-act cycle.
• Autonomy and Goals: Agents operate based on objectives or a “performance measure.” They autonomously plan and execute actions that maximize their goal. Textbooks define AI as the design of such goal-directed rational agents.
• Range of Complexity: Agents can be very simple (a rule-based chatbot answering FAQs) or very complex (an AI system managing supply chains). In fact, AI theory notes that agents range from a basic thermostat or control system to humans or entire software services, as long as they have the same perceive-act criteria.

Intelligent agents can also learn and adapt over time. They might improve performance using machine learning or updated knowledge. In short, an AI agent is any system that can think and act for you in some environment.

What Is a ChatGPT Agent?

A ChatGPT Agent is the brand-new agentic mode of OpenAI’s ChatGPT released in July 2025. In simple terms, it’s still ChatGPT (the conversational AI model), but supercharged with action. Instead of only chatting, ChatGPT Agent can actively carry out multi-step tasks on your behalf. As OpenAI puts it, “ChatGPT now thinks and acts, proactively choosing from a toolbox of agentic skills to complete tasks for you using its own computer”. This means ChatGPT Agent can navigate websites, run code, access your data (with permission), and use apps – not just generate text.

Key capabilities of ChatGPT Agent include:

• Autonomous task completion: It can take a high-level instruction (“Plan my dinner next week and order a birthday cake”) and break it into steps. It will browse sites, fill forms, make purchases, or gather info to achieve the goal. For example, OpenAI demonstrated asking ChatGPT to “plan and buy ingredients to make Japanese breakfast for four” or “analyze three competitors and create a slide deck,” and the agent handled all the web research and output formatting itself.
• Web browsing and navigation: The agent has built-in browsers. It uses a visual (GUI) browser when needed and a text-based browser for faster info processing. It can scroll, click, search – much like a human browsing the web. Tom’s Guide notes that with agent mode on, “the agent can navigate websites, securely log in with user permission, run code, [and] compile research into spreadsheets or slides”.
• Code execution and data tools: It includes a coding terminal and can execute scripts. This lets it manipulate data, run analyses, or generate charts. For instance, the agent could open a Python REPL to crunch numbers or use APIs to fetch information.
• Third-party app integration: Through ChatGPT Connectors, the agent can plug into your apps. You can grant access to Gmail, Google Calendar, GitHub, and others. Then the agent can retrieve emails, check your schedule, or pull documents as part of a task. OpenAI explicitly says ChatGPT Agent can access connectors for Gmail and GitHub to find info relevant to your prompts.
• Content creation: It can generate files and media as output. For example, it can draft a PowerPoint presentation or Excel spreadsheet after doing research.OpenAI Demo showed it producing downloadable PowerPoint slides and Excel sheets summarizing its finding.
• Complex workflows: It can chain many of the above seamlessly. For example, to plan an event it might search for venues, compare dates in your calendar, send confirmation emails, and compile a summary report—all in one go.

OpenAI built ChatGPT Agent by unifying its prior “Operator” (web browsing) and “Deep Research” features. As they explain, the agent is a unified agentic system that brings together Operator’s web-interaction skills, Deep Research’s synthesis ability, and ChatGPT’s language understanding. Practically, when you ask the agent to do something, it “fluidly shifts between reasoning and action” using its virtual machine. It decides whether to use the browser, run code, query APIs, etc., to be as efficient as possible.

As a real-world example, describes how OpenAI’s research lead tested the agent by ordering dozens of cupcakes online. The agent worked through the sites for the exact cupcakes requested. “That one took almost an hour—but it was easier than me doing it myself, because I didn’t want to do it,” she said. This anecdote shows that for certain tasks, the agent can save you effort by doing tedious online actions autonomously.

Throughout, you remain in control. ChatGPT Agent will always ask your permission before doing anything consequential, such as submitting a form or sending an email. You can interrupt it or stop the process at any time. For high-risk actions (like bank transfers), the agent is programmed to refuse unless the user actively supervises. OpenAI emphasizes user oversight: the agent can be halted at any point, and it even “narrates” its actions so you know what it’s doing.

In summary, ChatGPT Agent is ChatGPT’s new action-oriented mode. It effectively gives ChatGPT its own “computer” and toolkit so it can carry out tasks from start to finish, going far beyond just generating text responses.

What Is Agent Mode in ChatGPT?

“Agent Mode” is the switch you flip in ChatGPT to activate the ChatGPT Agent’s powers. By default, ChatGPT just chats. When you enable Agent Mode, you grant it access to the agentic toolkit (browsers, code runner, connectors) so it can act on your behalf.

Practically, to turn on Agent Mode you select it from the tools menu in any ChatGPT conversation. OpenAI notes that Pro, Plus, and Team users will see an “Agent Mode” option in the tools dropdown of the chat composer. subscribers simply enable “agent mode” in the ChatGPT interface when they want the AI to become an agent.

Once Agent Mode is active, ChatGPT augments its replies with action-taking. You might notice it asking for permission or displaying its browser/search steps. You can still type messages, and the agent will respond, but it now has the authority to execute tasks. In other words, the AI goes from passively answering one query at a time to actively managing entire procedures.

Agent Mode is designed to be seamless and optional. You can switch it on or off as needed during any chat. When it’s off, ChatGPT behaves as before (just answering prompts). When on, everything you ask will potentially be done by the agent. Because ChatGPT may ask follow-up clarification questions in agent mode, the interaction feels like a continuous conversation blended with collaborative task execution.

Who Can Use the ChatGPT Agent?

As of its launch, ChatGPT Agent is a premium feature. OpenAI has made it available only to paid subscribers, not the free tier. Specifically, ChatGPT users on the Pro, Plus, or Team subscription plans can enable Agent Mode right away. In practice, this means if you pay for ChatGPT Plus (or a business Team plan), you should see “Agent Mode” appear in your tools menu. OpenAI confirmed that “Pro, Plus, and Team users can activate ChatGPT’s new agentic capabilities”. The launch announcements and coverage all reiterate that Pro/Plus/Team tiers get immediate access to the agent.

For enterprise and education customers, access is coming soon. OpenAI plans to roll out Agent Mode to Enterprise and Education users in the weeks following the launch. Regionally, the agent launched in the UK and other supported markets, with Europe’s EEA and Switzerland still pending (OpenAI is working on making it available there). For now, free-tier users and non-paying accounts do not have Agent Mode.

In short, only paying ChatGPT customers can use ChatGPT Agent. If you see “Agent Mode” in your interface, you’re on one of the eligible plans (Pro/Plus/Team).

What Is a Chatbot Agent?

A chatbot agent generally refers to any AI agent that communicates via chat. In other words, it’s a software agent implemented as a conversational chatbot. Essentially, a chatbot agent is an intelligent agent whose interface is natural language dialogue. It “senses” the user’s messages and responds or acts through text or voice.

This contrasts with, say, a purely back-end agent that runs unseen tasks. A chatbot agent is user-facing: it carries out tasks or answers questions through conversation. For example, Siri, Alexa, or a customer service bot are all types of chatbot agents. They leverage AI to parse language input and often connect to actions (setting reminders, fetching account info, etc.).

From a technical standpoint, a chatbot agent embodies all the traits of an agent described earlier, but its sensory input and actuator output are language-based. It still “perceives” (reads your text), processes with AI, and “acts” (replies or triggers an operation). Indeed, as Wikipedia notes, intelligent agents are closely related to software agents – “autonomous computer programs that carry out tasks on behalf of users”. A chatbot agent is simply a software agent that uses chat as its interface.

Unlike simple scripted bots, modern chatbot agents (like those powered by large language models) can handle nuanced conversations and even complex tasks. The new ChatGPT Agent is an example: it’s a chatbot agent that not only chats with you but can autonomously execute multi-step chores. In essence, the term “chatbot agent” underscores that the system is an acting assistant, not just a passive dialog generator.

ChatGPT vs ChatGPT Agent vs AgentGPT: Key Differences

It’s easy to confuse the names, so let’s clarify: ChatGPT, ChatGPT Agent, and AgentGPT are three distinct things:

• ChatGPT (regular): This is OpenAI’s well-known conversational AI. It’s a chatbot powered by GPT models (GPT-4/3.5), designed to generate human-like text answers to prompts. Out of the box, it’s reactive: you ask a question or give a command, and it replies in text. It does not browse the internet or execute code on its own. Essentially, ChatGPT is “a chatbot with generative AI capabilities,” useful for answering questions, writing text, and holding a conversation.
• ChatGPT Agent: This is the agent mode of ChatGPT (the subject of this article). It is not a separate product but a new mode you can enable within ChatGPT (with the proper subscription). When Agent Mode is on, ChatGPT gains autonomous capabilities: it can navigate websites, run code, use apps, and perform tasks end-to-end on your behalf. As ChatGPT Agent “can automatically navigate a user’s calendar, generate editable presentations and slideshows, and run code,” doing much more than standard ChatGPT ever could. In short, ChatGPT Agent is ChatGPT plus a toolbox of actions. You still interact via chat, but now your assistant can “think and act” to accomplish goals.
• AgentGPT: This is an entirely separate platform (from a company called Reworkd AI, launched in 2023). It is an autonomous AI agent builder, not affiliated with OpenAI’s ChatGPT. AgentGPT lets anyone set up their own AI agents: you give AgentGPT an objective and it creates an agent (using GPT-3.5/4 under the hood) that works toward that goal. In effect, AgentGPT is a tool for deploying autonomous GPT-based agents (for tasks like research, content generation, etc.). It is open-source and web-accessible, whereas ChatGPT/ChatGPT Agent are proprietary OpenAI products.

Key distinctions: ChatGPT Agent and AgentGPT both involve “agents,” but in different contexts. ChatGPT Agent is a feature of ChatGPT that lets the ChatGPT model act on tasks in real time. AgentGPT is a standalone service where the whole user experience centers on defining and launching an agent.“ChatGPT can be classified as a chatbot with generative AI capabilities, while AgentGPT is an autonomous AI tool.” ChatGPT (by default) answers queries; AgentGPT spawns agents that pursue goals like, "ChatGPT Agent".

To bulletize the differences:

• Scope: ChatGPT (normal) = conversation only. ChatGPT Agent = conversation plus autonomous actions. AgentGPT = agent-creation platform.
• Provider: ChatGPT/Agent mode = OpenAI service. AgentGPT = independent, open-source (Reworkd AI) tool.
• Usage: ChatGPT Agent is invoked inside a ChatGPT chat (via Agent Mode). AgentGPT requires you to define agent goals on its own interface.
• Example tasks: All three use GPT tech, but with different focuses. For instance, ChatGPT Agent might analyze competitors online and build you a slide deck, while AgentGPT could be set up to continually research a market trend and update you daily. A regular ChatGPT (no agent) would only chat about those topics but not take action.

In short, ChatGPT vs. ChatGPT Agent: one is text-only, the other is text plus action. AgentGPT stands apart as a toolkit for making agents, whereas ChatGPT Agent is just that toolkit integrated into ChatGPT itself. AgentGPT is described as predicated on GPT-3.5/4 to create and deploy these agents, whereas ChatGPT Agent is OpenAI’s in-house agent mode using the GPT-4.5 model with its own tools.

Overall, ChatGPT Agent represents a next step for OpenAI’s chatbot: it’s no longer confined to the conversation – it can use the web and your apps like a digital personal assistant. AgentGPT shows the wider industry trend of autonomous AI agents, but it’s not the same thing as ChatGPT’s new feature.

Conclusion

ChatGPT Agent brings us a step closer to the vision of AI as an active helper. It turns ChatGPT from a passive respondent into an agentic assistant that can juggle emails, scheduling, research and more – all under your direction. This leap is significant: as it’s OpenAI’s boldest attempt yet “to turn ChatGPT into an agentic product that can take actions and offload tasks for users, rather than just answering questions”.

For users wondering how this changes things, remember: ChatGPT Agent is about automation and autonomy. Where ChatGPT once said “here’s how you could do that,” the Agent mode can often just do it for you. Of course, this power comes with new considerations (OpenAI and others are building in safety checks and oversight. But for many tasks, having an AI agent to handle the legwork is a game-changer.

In summary, an AI agent is any system that acts to achieve goals, a chatbot agent specifically acts via chat, and ChatGPT Agent is simply ChatGPT in agent mode – an autonomous, tool-enabled assistant. By activating Agent Mode, eligible ChatGPT users unlock this new capability. Meanwhile, platforms like AgentGPT show similar trends by allowing anyone to spin up agents. Together, these developments hint at a future where AI agents become our day-to-day collaborators, doing the online legwork so we don’t have to.