ChatGPT’s memory feature is pretty basic, but it’s the sort of product feature that can build a moat, particularly if it’s extended to other use cases.
ChatGPT Memory and the Bitter Lesson
I reverse-engineered ChatGPT's memory system to understand what it stores, how it works (spoiler: not RAG!), and why OpenAI built it this way. Complete with prompts you can try yourself to explore your own ChatGPT memory.
ChatGPT is smarter now that it's learned to forget - a huge memory upgrade is coming
The AI chatbot will remember what matters most and quietly let the rest fade
ChatGPT will now use its 'memory' to personalize web searches | TechCrunch
ChatGPT will now use its 'memory' to personalize web searches, thanks to a new feature called Memory with Search.
OpenAI on Twitter / X
We’re starting to roll out a lightweight version of memory improvements to Free users. In addition to existing saved memories, ChatGPT now references your recent conversations to provide more personalized responses. https://t.co/RZFYUC9JAT https://t.co/O8lubCBNZO— OpenAI (@OpenAI) June 3, 2025
I Reverse Engineered ChatGPT's Memory System, and Here's What I Found!
When I asked ChatGPT what it remembered about me, it listed 33 facts from my name and career goals to my current fitness routine. But how does it actually store and retrieve this information? And why does it feel so seamless? After extensive experimentation, I discovered that ChatGPT’s memory system is far simpler than I expected. No vector databases. No RAG over conversation history. Instead, it uses four distinct layers: session metadata that adapts to your environment, explicit facts stored long-term, lightweight summaries of recent chats, and a sliding window of your current conversation.
Dreaming: Better memory for a more helpful ChatGPT
ChatGPT introduces a new memory system to better remember preferences, keeping context fresh and relevant across conversations.
Comparing the memory implementations of Claude and ChatGPT
Shlok Khemani has been doing excellent work reverse-engineering LLM systems and documenting his discoveries. Last week he wrote about ChatGPT memory. This week it's Claude. Claude's memory system has two …
ChatGPT acts as a "cognitive crutch" that weakens memory, new research suggests
A recent experiment provides evidence that relying on artificial intelligence to study tends to reduce how much information students remember weeks later.
How ChatGPT Remembers You: A Deep Dive into Its Memory and History Features
Deep-Dive on how ChatGPT profiles your account and how it can reference it during conversations
I really don’t like ChatGPT’s new memory dossier
Last month ChatGPT got a major upgrade. As far as I can tell the closest to an official announcement was this tweet from @OpenAI: Starting today [April 10th 2025], memory …
I Reverse Engineered Claude's Memory System, and Here's What I Found!
When I reverse-engineered ChatGPT’s memory system, I found it uses pre-computed summaries injected into every prompt. But Claude’s approach is different. Through extensive experimentation, I discovered Claude uses on-demand tools and selective retrieval, a fundamentally different architecture. But how does this actually work? And how does it compare to ChatGPT’s approach? This is the second post in a series where I reverse-engineer the memory systems of popular AI assistants. The first post focused on ChatGPT’s memory system. In this post, we’ll do the same exercise for Claude—and the differences are fascinating.
Shlok Khemani on Twitter / X
Super interesting that eve doesn't ship with any long-term or cross-session memory (yet). The main context-management lever out of the box is conversation compaction. This is unlike OpenClaw and Hermes, each of which comes with a default opinionated memory implementation. https://t.co/DDIyc4rFtW— Shlok Khemani (@shloked) June 17, 2026
What makes a great ChatGPT app | OpenAI Developers
How to build capabilities that make conversations better.
Shlok Khemani on Twitter / X
It's telling that neither ChatGPT nor Claude uses RAG for their memory systems, despite having:- the most data (oldest services, highest usage, general purpose)- strong incentives for memory (user lock-in)- A+ talent and alpha on model trajectoriesMaybe RAG just doesn't…— Shlok Khemani (@shloked) September 15, 2025
Looking for AI use-cases — Benedict Evans
We’ve had ChatGPT for 18 months, but what’s it for? What are the use-cases? Why isn’t it useful for everyone, right now? Do Large Language Models become universal tools that can do ‘any’ task, or do we wrap them in single-purpose apps, and build thousands of new companies around that?
What ChatGPT Thinks It Knows About You Is Affecting Its Answers. Here’s How to Change That
Understanding how ChatGPT’s latest memory upgrade works will help you get even more out of OpenAI’s productivity tool.
