As 2025 draws to a close, the digital tradition of the year-in-review has expanded into a new frontier: artificial intelligence. Following a wave of user demand for a "ChatGPT Wrapped," OpenAI has officially entered the recap arena with its first personalized feature, "Your Year with ChatGPT." This move signals how deeply integrated generative AI has become in daily digital life, prompting both reflection on its use and important questions about data privacy.
OpenAI Answers User Demand with a Personalized Recap
The launch of "Your Year with ChatGPT" comes directly in response to a consistent trend on social media, where users began requesting their own AI-powered summaries of the year. While many attempted to craft their own using clever prompts, OpenAI has now provided an official, structured experience. Rolling out gradually on December 22, 2025, the feature is designed to help users reflect on their interactions with the chatbot over the past twelve months. It highlights high-level themes from conversations and provides detailed statistics on usage, offering a quirky and creative look at one's digital year with AI.
What the ChatGPT Year-in-Review Includes
The experience is modeled after popular services like Spotify Wrapped but is tailored specifically to AI interactions. It features several personalized slides. A standout element is "Your Year in Poetry," where ChatGPT generates a short, original poem based on a user's interests and conversation history. The recap also assigns users an "award" and an "archetype" based on their usage patterns—perhaps labeling someone a "Creative Explorer" or a "Productivity Powerhouse." Furthermore, it includes an AI-generated "portrait" meant to capture the user's general vibe and an analysis of their conversational style, even reviewing specific past messages for context.
Access Requirements and Regional Availability
To access the full "Your Year with ChatGPT" experience, users must meet specific criteria. They need to have both the "Memory" and "Reference Chat History" features enabled in their settings, and they must surpass a minimum, undisclosed activity threshold. Users with limited activity will only see basic chat statistics. The feature is currently available only in English and is limited to users in the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. It is accessible to Free, Plus, and Pro tier users on both mobile and web platforms but is not available for those on Business, Enterprise, or Edu plans.
Feature Availability:
- User Tiers: Free, Plus, Pro
- Excluded Tiers: Business, Enterprise, Edu
- Languages: English only
- Regions: United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand
- Platforms: Mobile app and web experience
A Built-In Privacy Check-Up
Perhaps the most significant unintended consequence of this launch is that it serves as a practical reminder for users to review their ChatGPT privacy settings. The feature only works if memory and chat history referencing are enabled, which are turned on by default. For free and paid individual users, this data may also be used to train OpenAI's models if the "Improve the model for everyone" setting is active. The launch has prompted tech commentators to advise users to visit their Settings, specifically the Personalization and Data Controls sections, to understand and manage what the AI remembers and how their data is utilized.
Privacy & Settings Requirements: To view the full "Your Year with ChatGPT" recap, users must:
- Have Memory enabled.
- Have Reference Chat History enabled.
- Meet an undisclosed minimum activity threshold.
- These settings are on by default.
- Users below the activity threshold see only basic chat statistics.
The Broader Implications of AI Wrapped
The introduction of "Your Year with ChatGPT" marks a maturation point for consumer AI. It's no longer just a tool for tasks but a companion with a memory, capable of reflecting a user's year back to them. This fosters deeper engagement but also underscores the persistent privacy trade-offs inherent in powerful, personalized AI. As these recaps become an annual fixture, they will continue to highlight just how much we share with our digital assistants and what it means to have an AI that never forgets—unless we explicitly tell it to.