In a move that will surprise absolutely no one who has ever squinted at the ChatGPT desktop app and wondered which tab they were supposed to be in, OpenAI is preparing to merge the Chat and Work tabs within the ChatGPT experience. The company announced the change via an email to users, because apparently the best way to explain a confusing interface is through a slightly confusing email.

The ChatGPT desktop app currently features ChatGPT and Codex sections, and within ChatGPT, separate Chat and Work tabs. OpenAI has acknowledged, implicitly, that this is a lot. The merger aims to let users "move from exploring an idea to having ChatGPT carry it through, all in one place," according to the email. Users will be able to bring in files and plugins and ask ChatGPT to build a website, create a presentation, or "do things for you on the web," while reviewing and guiding its work. Codex, meanwhile, will remain a separate experience in the desktop app - because some tabs are apparently still sacred.

The rollout will initially be available to select users for feedback before a wider release, which is corporate-speak for "we'll test it on the people least likely to complain loudly on social media." OpenAI also noted that with this transition, both ChatGPT and Codex will draw tokens from the same allowance pool. The company said this won't impact most users, but depending on usage and model, some folks might need to wait for resets more frequently - a polite way of saying your token budget just got a new roommate.

The move comes after rival Anthropic merged Claude's chat and Cowork functions into one screen in September, proving once again that the tech industry's favorite form of innovation is looking at what the other guy did and saying, "Yeah, okay, we'll do that too."