ChatGPT Agent appears in Europe despite no formal announcement

ChatGPT Agent quietly becomes a European reality.

The once-restricted feature now appears officially global, yet practical access still rolls out in waves as OpenAI fine-tunes compliance and infrastructure.

When ChatGPT Agent debuted on 17 July 2025, users in the European Economic Area found the tool conspicuously absent, and the public documentation echoed that exclusion. Two weeks later the official FAQ was revised: it now says the Agent “is available in all … supported countries and territories,” implicitly covering the entire EU and Switzerland.

Documentation tells one story while legacy footnotes linger.

Discrepancies remain between the freshly updated Agent FAQ and older help pages that still warn of regional blocks, revealing a staggered clean-up of policy text.

A separate help article on Connectors continues to carry a footnote stating that several features—including Agent-powered deep-research connectors—are “not currently available for users located in EEA, Switzerland, and the UK.” The contradiction suggests that OpenAI’s technical rollout has overtaken its editorial housekeeping, leaving mixed signals for readers who consult multiple pages.

Early adopters experience a patchwork of enablement.

Plus, Pro, and Team subscribers report sudden access while neighbours on identical plans still see the “Unavailable in EEA” banner, pointing to an account-flag approach rather than a blanket geo-unblock.

A wave of forum posts over the past week shows Italian, German, Spanish, and Dutch subscribers toggling Agent mode without VPN work-arounds; others in the same cities remain locked out. The pattern aligns with OpenAI’s historical practice of gradually widening feature flags, monitoring user load and legal feedback before enabling every account.

Desktop integration signals confidence in wider deployment.

The macOS ChatGPT app gained an Agent toolbar option on 25 July, highlighting a platform push that would make little sense if a major region were still officially blocked.

The desktop release lets Plus users launch Agent tasks that continue running even when the app window is closed, underscoring OpenAI’s readiness to move beyond web-only access. Windows support is promised “soon,” reinforcing the notion that the service is entering a scale-up phase rather than a limited test.

Regulatory clearance looks imminent but not yet final.

Behind the scenes, the rollout coincides with ongoing negotiations over GDPR alignment and the forthcoming EU AI Act, factors that dictate how quickly usage caps and data-handling safeguards can be relaxed.

Legal practitioners in Brussels note that Agent’s automated browsing and form-filling raise new compliance questions—particularly around screenshot logging and third-party cookies. The gradual activation pattern allows OpenAI to gather operational data and refine consent flows before making an unequivocal, legally sound announcement.

What European users should do right now.

Checking the Tools menu inside GPT-4, looking for the new lightning-bolt “Agent mode,” and testing simple tasks are the only reliable ways to confirm access until OpenAI publishes a definitive statement.

If the switch is present, the Agent runs under the same message quotas announced at launch—forty per month for Plus and Team, four hundred for Pro—so experimentation remains inexpensive. Users who still see the restriction banner may simply be waiting for the next flag update; no manual action appears to accelerate inclusion.

The roadmap hints at faster, broader automation.

With official wording already shifted to “all supported countries,” a full press release, updated connector footnotes, and Windows desktop parity are the logical next milestones to watch.

Expect the Help Center to harmonise its pages, followed by an in-app pop-up or X-thread formalising EU availability. Once that occurs, Enterprise and Edu workspaces are likely to receive Agent mode under stricter admin controls, completing the feature’s passage from quiet pilot to mainstream tool across Europe.

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