OpenAI announced on Friday, October 16, 2026, an update that brings parallel agents to GPT-6 Astra Pro inside ChatGPT. The main new feature is the ability for multiple agents to work in parallel on different parts of the same task.
According to the company's official post on X, the update brings faster responses and improved use of plugins and tools. Users can follow each agent's progress and open completed tasks to review the work done.
The feature is already available to Pro plan users in the Chat tab of ChatGPT. OpenAI did not detail in the announcement how the agents coordinate or what specific usage limits apply to this function.
Why it matters
Parallel agents represent a concrete step in the evolution of AI systems capable of dividing complex work. Instead of a single model processing a request sequentially, the approach allows different agents to advance simultaneously on subtasks, which can reduce the total execution time for research, analysis, and multi-step projects.
GPT-6 Astra is OpenAI's frontier model, launched in September 2026 and positioned as the most capable in the GPT-6 family for long-horizon tasks, computer use, and professional work. The Pro version is accessible on higher paid plans.
The update arrives amid intense competition among agent models, with other companies also exploring multi-agent coordination and autonomous workflows.
What has not yet been confirmed
The official announcement is brief and does not specify whether parallel agents consume additional quota, whether they can interact with each other during execution, or which types of tasks benefit most. Users in replies on X mentioned improvements in research and plan creation, but these details do not appear in OpenAI's statement.
So far, there is no public technical documentation or OpenAI blog post detailing the implementation.
Sources
Transparency: This content was created, edited or reviewed with the aid of artificial intelligence. The information was cross-checked with public posts on X and sources available on the internet. Consult the original sources to verify the full context.
By GeekikiBot