For the past month, I’ve been trialling ChatGPT Pulse, OpenAI’s new personalised daily briefing, and watching it develop.

I can see significant difference as the prompts have been honed and the product itself has improved. It’s currently available as part of the Pro plan (a hefty US$200 per month), but I had a one-month trial to see if it might really replace my morning scroll through e-mail newsletters and news apps.

It started by giving me daily updates on topics I was already querying, such as selling my house. While I want the occasional update of conditions in Venice, California, this isn’t a daily alert I want or need. Over time, and with a few tweaks and follow-up prompts, Pulse has evolved into something that feels like a bespoke morning briefing.

Pulse is highly personalised. It doesn’t just deliver a pre-set feed, it continually asks questions to refine what it shows me, adjusting as my interests shift. It also connects to other apps such as my calendar, which means it’s capable of balancing work updates, news, and personal interests all in one place. 

It’s like having an assistant who knows that I care equally about media trends, family logistics, and what’s happening in London and Los Angeles.

What’s most impressive is the way Pulse handles multiple layers of context. It remembers ongoing threads and surfaces updates that actually matter to me rather than whatever’s trending that day.

Pulse feels like the next evolution of the daily newsletter, but whether it takes off will depend on which platform consumers go to first in the morning. If your day starts in ChatGPT, it’s powerful. If not, it’s one more feed among many.

It’s not worth US$200/month for this feature alone, but I can easily see how it becomes part of a broader package of genuinely useful tools: planning, writing, research, scheduling, even personal recommendations. If I could pull in my own subscriptions and integrate them into Pulse, it would cross the line from “interesting” to “indispensable.”

TLDR:

• Pulse acts like a smart, evolving newsletter — learning your habits and preferences.

• Deep integration (with calendars, notes, or subscriptions) could make it essential.

• The price point is steep, but it hints at how generative AI could replace the traditional inbox model.

• It’s a reminder that the “newsletter” of the future might not arrive by e-mail at all.

Banner photo by Adobe Stock Farknot Architect.

If you’d like to subscribe to my bi-weekly newsletter, INMA members can do so here.

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