Is Google Search for Internal Enterprise Knowledge Finally Here…But From OpenAIIt certainly seems that way.
Today, OpenAI has Company Knowledge Launched in ChatGPTA major new capability for ChatGPT paid Business, Enterprise, and Edu plan customers that lets them call up their company data directly from third-party workplace apps, including Slack, SharePoint, Google Drive, Gmail, GitHub, HubSpot, and combine it into ChatGPT outputs.
As OpenAI’s Applications CEO Fidji Simo said in a post on the social network X: "It brings all the context from your apps (Slack, Google Drive, GitHub, etc.) together into ChatGPT so you can get answers specific to your business."
Interestingly, this is what OpenAI’s blog post on the feature says "Powered by a version of GPT‑5 that has been trained to look at multiple sources to deliver more comprehensive and accurate answers," What appears to me to be a newly refined version of the model family the company released in August, though there are no additional details about how it was trained.
Nevertheless, company knowledge in ChatGPT is spreading globally and ChatGPT is designed to create a central point of access to verified organizational information, supported by secure integrations and enterprise-grade compliance controls, and give employees fast access to their company information while working.
Now, instead of having to toggle through Slack to find assignments and instructions given to you, or tab to Google Drive and open specific files to find the names and numbers you need to call, ChatGPT can deliver all that type of information straight to your chat session – if your company enables the proper connection.
Brad Lightcap as Chief Operating Officer of OpenAI Wrote in a post on the social network, "The company’s knowledge has changed how I use ChatGPT at work more than anything we’ve created so far – let us know what you think!"
It is based on third-party app connectors unveiled in August 2025, although they were only for individual users on ChatGPAT Plus plans.
Connecting ChatGPT to workplace systems
Enterprise teams often face the challenge of fragmented data across various internal tools—email, chat, file storage, project management, and customer platforms.
Company Knowledge bridges those silos by enabling ChatGPT to connect to approved systems and other supported apps through enterprise-managed connectors.
Each response generated from company knowledge includes citations and direct links to the original sources, allowing teams to verify where specific details originated from. This transparency helps organizations maintain data reliability while increasing productivity.
OpenAI confirms that Company Knowledge uses a version of GPT-5 optimized for multi-source reasoning and cross-system synthesis, providing detailed, contextually accurate results even across disparate sources.
Built for enterprise control and security
The company was built from the ground up for knowledge enterprise governance and compliance. It respects existing permissions within connected apps – ChatGPT can only access what the user is already authorized to see – and by default never trains on company data.
Security features include industry-standard encryption, support for SSO and SCIM for account provisioning, and IP allow lists to restrict access to approved corporate networks.
Enterprise administrators can also define role-based access control (RBAC) policies and manage permissions at the group or department level.
OpenAI’s Enterprise Compliance API provides a full audit trail, allowing administrators to review conversation logs for reporting and regulatory purposes.
This capability helps enterprises meet internal governance standards and industry-specific requirements such as SOC 2 and ISO 27001 compliance.
Admin configuration and connector management
For enterprise deployment, administrators must enable Company Knowledge and its connectors within the ChatGPIT workspace. Once the connector is activated, users can authenticate their own accounts for each work app they need to access.
In the Enterprise and Edu plans, connectors are turned off by default and require explicit administrator approval before employees can use them. Administrators can selectively enable connectors, manage access based on role, and require SSO-based authentication for better control.
In contrast, Business plan users have connectors automatically enabled when they are available in their workspace. Administrators can still see which connectors are approved, ensuring alignment with internal IT and data policies.
Company knowledge becomes available to any user with at least one active connector, and administrators can configure group-level permissions for different teams — such as restricting GitHub access to engineering while enabling Google Drive or HubSpot for marketing and sales.
How company knowledge works in practice
Activating company knowledge is straightforward. Users can start a new or existing conversation in ChatGPT and select “Company Knowledge” under the message composer or from the tools menu.
After authenticating their connected apps, they can ask questions as usual – like “Summary the latest feedback and risks for this account” or “Compile Q4 performance summary from project trackers.”
ChatGPT searches across connected tools, retrieves relevant references, and generates replies with full citations and source links.
The system can combine data across apps to create a unified view of a project, client, or initiative—for example, blending Slack updates, Google Docs notes, and HubSpot CRM records.
When Company Knowledge is not selected, ChatGPT may still use connectors in a limited capacity as part of the default experience, but responses will not include detailed citations or multi-source syntheses.
Advanced Use Cases for Enterprise Teams
For development and operations leaders, company knowledge can act as a centralized intelligence layer that surfaces real-time updates and dependencies across complex workflows. For example, ChatGPT can summarize open GitHub pull requests, highlight unresolved linear tickets, and cross-reference Slack engineering discussions – all in a single output.
Technical teams can also use it for incident retrospectives or release planning by pulling relevant information from issue trackers, logs, and meeting notes. Procurement or finance leaders can use it to consolidate purchase requests or budget updates into a shared drive and internal communications.
Because the model can simultaneously reference structured and unstructured data, it supports a wide range of scenarios – from compliance document review to cross-departmental performance summaries.
Privacy, Data Residency, and Compliance
Enterprise data security is a central design element of company knowledge. ChatGPT processes data in accordance with OpenAI’s enterprise-grade security model, ensuring that no connected app data leaves the secure boundary of an organization’s authorized environment.
Data residency policies vary by connector. Some integrations, such as Slack, support region-specific data storage, while others—such as Google Drive and SharePoint—are available to US-based customers with or without REST data residency. Organizations with regional compliance responsibilities can review the connector-specific security documentation for details.
No geographical restrictions apply to company knowledge, making it suitable for multinational organizations operating in multiple jurisdictions.
Limitations and future enhancements
Currently, users must manually enable Company Knowledge in every new ChatGPT conversation.
OpenAI is developing a unified interface that will automatically integrate company knowledge with other ChatGPT tools such as browsing and chart generation so that users do not need to toggle between modes.
When enabled, Company Knowledge temporarily disables web browsing and visual output generation, although users can switch modes within the same conversation to re-enable those features.
OpenAI also continues to expand the network of supported tools. Recent updates have added connectors for Asana, GitHub Issues, and ClickUp, and OpenAI plans to support future MCP (Model Context Protocol) connectors to enable custom, developer-built integrations.
Some important information about company knowledge Remains unclear based on OpenAI’s published materials. It is not yet known whether the system can detect and exclude information labeled as confidential, whether organizations can opt out or opt out of separate data training for this feature, or whether users will eventually be able to choose which model powers it.
OpenAI also did not say whether this version of GPT-5 is new or feature-specific, or what service-level guarantees are in place to ensure accuracy and prevent hallucinations in company-specific responses. VentureBeat has emailed OpenAI spokespersons with these and related questions and awaits a response, which we will publish when we receive them.
Availability and launch
Company knowledge is now available to all ChatGPT Business, Enterprise and Edu users. Organizations can get started by enabling the feature and connecting approved work apps under the ChatGPT message composer.
For enterprise rollouts, OpenAI recommends a phased deployment: first enabling core connectors (like Google Drive and Slack), configuring RBAC and SSO, then expanding to specialized systems after data access policies are verified.
Procurement and security leaders evaluating the feature should note that Company Knowledge falls under the existing ChatGPT Enterprise Terms and uses the same encryption, compliance and service-level guarantees.
With the company’s knowledge, OpenAI aims to make ChatGPT not just a conversational assistant, but an intelligent interface to enterprise data – providing secure, context-aware insights that help technical and business leaders act with confidence.
