ChatGPT Pulse brings proactive AI to mobile

OpenAI has started testing ChatGPT Pulse, a feature that researches topics for you overnight and delivers a selection of personalized updates every morning. The service is launching first as a preview for Pro users in the mobile app.

From asking questions to receiving useful information

Until now, ChatGPT has mostly worked when you started the conversation. You had to know what to ask, request the next step and check back whenever you needed something else.

Pulse changes that order. It analyzes your conversations, your memory within ChatGPT, your prompts and, if you authorize it, data from connected apps to decide what might be relevant to you. It then presents the results in visual cards that you can scan quickly or open for more details.

The research happens asynchronously, meaning while you are not using ChatGPT. Each night, it prepares a new edition for you to find when you start the day.

What it can do for you

The updates do not follow a fixed list. They adapt to your interests and the topics that come up in your conversations. For example, Pulse might offer you:

• Follow-ups on a topic you ask about frequently.
• Ideas for preparing a quick, healthy dinner that same evening.
• Suggestions for making progress toward a long-term goal, such as training for a triathlon.
• Next steps after a conversation about organizing a trip or a project.

You can also ask it directly what to research. With the curation option, you can request a summary of local events for Fridays, tips for learning a skill or updates about a specific sport.

The system learns from your reactions. You can mark each update with a thumbs-up or thumbs-down, tell it what you want to see in the future and review or delete the history of that feedback. If a suggestion is no longer useful, you can also correct ChatGPT so it takes that context into account next time.

Gmail and Calendar are optional

Pulse can connect to Gmail and Google Calendar to better understand your context. These integrations are disabled by default, and you can turn them on or off at any time in the settings.

With Calendar connected, it could prepare a draft agenda for a meeting, remind you to buy a birthday gift or recommend restaurants for an upcoming trip. Its usefulness depends on the information available and the permissions you choose to grant.

The updates go through safety checks to prevent harmful content or content that violates OpenAI’s policies. Even so, the company warns that Pulse is still being tested and may make mistakes: it could recommend something you have already finished or misread your priorities.

Every update has an expiration date

Pulse content is designed for that day and disappears afterward unless you save it as a conversation or ask a follow-up question. You can also expand a card, request next steps or save the information to return to it later.

This matters because it separates two different uses of ChatGPT. A one-off query seeks an answer now; Pulse tries to keep you up to date and help you move forward without having to remember to ask.

For now, the feature is limited to Pro users on mobile. OpenAI plans to learn from this first stage before bringing it to Plus users, with the goal of making it available to everyone later.

Pulse is an early approach to a ChatGPT that not only responds, but also prepares useful work in advance. The next step will be connecting it to more apps and showing information at specific moments, such as before a meeting or when it is time to return to a document. The key question will be how much value that anticipation provides compared with how much control you want to retain over what the AI observes and recommends.