An illustration of ChatGPT’s new emoji reactions. Image: MadRobot illustration
ChatGPT is getting a little more like a messaging app. OpenAI has rolled out emoji reactions, so you can now react to ChatGPT’s replies with an emoji, and ChatGPT can react to your messages in the same way. OpenAI hasn’t announced the feature, but users have been spotting it and sharing it on X.
How to react in ChatGPT
Under each ChatGPT reply, next to the copy, share and regenerate buttons, there’s a new smiley face with a plus sign. Tap it and you get five reactions to choose from:
- ❤️ heart
- 🙌 raised hands
- 😂 laughing
- 😢 crying
- 😮 surprised
It works a lot like reactions in iMessage or WhatsApp. Unlike ChatGPT’s thumbs up and thumbs down feedback, which tells OpenAI whether an answer was good or bad, reactions are just for showing how a reply made you feel.
ChatGPT reacts too
It goes both ways. People have also noticed ChatGPT dropping emoji reactions on their messages in ordinary one-to-one chats since early September, one blogger reported. ChatGPT could already react with emojis in group chats, which OpenAI launched in November 2025 and has been winding down since July.
Users have been asking for this for a while: OpenAI’s developer forum has several requests for emoji reactions on ChatGPT replies from the last few months, like this one.
Why it matters
It’s a small change, but it pushes ChatGPT further towards feeling like a friend you message rather than a tool you use, the same direction as Meta’s Muse. For OpenAI, reactions could also be a richer signal of what people enjoy than a simple thumbs up.
Sources: note.com, OpenAI Developer Community.
