OpenAI has updated ChatGPT with a new feature that enables the chatbot to analyze data users keep in third-party services.
The capability, which is known simply as “company knowledge,” made its debut on Thursday. It’s included in ChatGPT’s Business, Enterprise and Edu subscription tiers.
The feature can be activated using a new button below the chatbot’s message box. When users click it for the first time, ChatGPT prompts them to connect the external services they wish to access. OpenAI offers integrations with more than a dozen cloud applications, including Google Drive, Dropbox and GitHub.
ChatGPT can search multiple third-party services at once. If a user requests an update about a software project, the chatbot might pull information from a GitHub repository and project documentation stored in Google Drive. ChatGPT’s responses include citations that allow users to quickly jump to the files from which the assistant sourced information.
Under the hood, the new company knowledge feature is based on a modified version of GPT-5. OpenAI says that the customized model is adept at interpreting terse prompts. For example, a prompt that requests “customer feedback on the new analytics feature” might lead ChatGPT to collect data from not only feedback forms but also support tickets and user reviews.
There are situations where different teams’ business documents might contradict one another. According to OpenAI, GPT-5 can detect when that’s the case and point out the inconsistencies in its prompt responses. It finds the different versions of the data by running multiple searches across a user’s connected services.
When reviewing data sources, the customized model that powers ChatGPT’s new search feature can take file creation dates into account. For example, a prompt that asks the chatbot to fetch “recent financial results” would lead it to summarize earnings results from last quarter rather than last year. When customization is required, users can enter the specific document creation dates that ChatGPT should prioritize.
Built-in access controls enable administrators to regulate which worker may use what data. Additionally, they cant manage the application connectors that users add to their ChatGPT accounts.
On launch, the chatbot can’t pull data from the web or generate charts when the company knowledge feature is activated. OpenAI plans to change that in the coming months.
Further down the line, the artificial intelligence provider might bring its company knowledge connectors to ChatGPT’s consumer versions. In 2024, Microsoft Corp. introduced similar connectors for the version of Copilot that ships with Microsoft 365. This week, it made some of the connectors available in the free consumer edition of the chatbot.
It’s also possible OpenAI will eventually add the ability to extend the company knowledge feature with custom connectors. Microsoft 365’s version of Copilot already provides support for such integrations.
ChatGPT’s latest update could create more competition for Dropbox Inc., which offers a rival search tool called Dash. It likewise enables users to retrieve information from documents scattered across multiple applications. On Thursday, Dropbox announced that it has acquired an AI startup called Mobius Labs GmbH to enhance Dash’s multimodal search capabilities.
Image: OpenAI
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