OpenAI is about to start testing ChatGPT connectors for Slack and Google Drive

According to a document viewed by TechCrunch, OpenAI will begin beta testing a feature called ChatGPT Connectors. This tool will allow ChatGPT Team subscribers to sync their workspace Google Drive and Slack accounts with ChatGPT, enabling the chatbot to answer queries based on files, presentations, spreadsheets, and Slack conversations stored in those accounts.

The document also indicates that OpenAI plans to expand ChatGPT Connectors to additional platforms in the future, such as Microsoft SharePoint and Box. This capability could potentially persuade hesitant executives to reconsider their reservations and pose significant competition for AI-powered enterprise search providers like Glean.

Set to launch in beta for selected ChatGPT Team users, ChatGPT Connectors is powered by a specialized version of OpenAI’s GPT-4o model that tailors its answers using “internal [company] knowledge,” as detailed in the document. This custom GPT-4o model searches and “reads” internal content potentially relevant to a given query.

To compile a search index, OpenAI uploads an encrypted copy of company files and conversations to ChatGPT’s servers, according to the document. Likely to reassure customers, the document emphasizes that Slack and Google Drive permissions are “fully respected” and “kept continuously up to date.” For instance, ChatGPT Connector mirrors Slack private channel memberships and Drive file permissions, as well as directory information.

As noted in the OpenAI document, employees will not be able to find content through ChatGPT that they cannot already access in Google Drive or Slack. Moreover, administrators will have the option to select which Slack channels and Google Drive files are synced. A minor drawback mentioned in the document is that employees might receive “substantially different” answers to identical ChatGPT prompts. Images in Google Drive files (for example, Google Docs, Google Slides, PDFs, Word documents, PowerPoint presentations, and plain text) are not supported, and ChatGPT Connector can only “read” – not analyze – data in Sheets and Excel workbooks. It also cannot fetch Slack direct messages or group chats, and it will ignore messages from Slack bots.