OpenAI is pushing ChatGPT past “just a chatbot” and toward something more like an app platform: starting at its DevDay event (October 6, 2025), the company unveiled an Apps SDK that lets third-party services embed interactive apps directly inside the ChatGPT conversation window. That means you can ask ChatGPT to call an actual Spotify, Canva or Zillow experience, get a real app UI and then follow up with conversational prompts — all without leaving the chat.

In OpenAI’s demo, an employee asked ChatGPT to ask Canva to make a poster for a dog-walking business. Canva returned a handful of generated posters, and the presenter then asked for a pitch deck based on the poster — a multi-step flow that stayed inside the chat. In another demo, the presenter had ChatGPT call Zillow to show homes for sale in Pittsburgh; ChatGPT produced an interactive map and responded to follow-ups about listings. These demos aren’t just showboating — they show how the chat can orchestrate UX plus context-aware assistance in one place.

Who’s in at launch (and who’s coming)

OpenAI says apps available inside ChatGPT starting today include Booking .com, Canva, Coursera, Expedia, Figma, Spotify and Zillow. In the “weeks ahead,” it plans to add partners such as DoorDash, OpenTable, Target and Uber. The move builds on recent experiments — like allowing purchases through Etsy in ChatGPT — and signals a broader push to fold commerce, design tools, travel booking and media consumption into a single conversational layer.

For developers: a preview SDK, then an app directory

Developers can access the Apps SDK in preview immediately, OpenAI says. Later this year, third-party creators will be able to submit apps for review and publication, and the company plans to offer an app directory so users can discover and enable apps inside ChatGPT. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has also said the company will publish guidance on monetization “soon,” although details remain thin. For software teams, that timeline means you can start building integrations now and expect a formal marketplace — and a potential revenue route — by the end of the year.

Why OpenAI thinks this will stick

There are two bets baked into this strategy. First, ChatGPT already has massive attention — integrating apps reduces “context switching” friction: instead of opening a website, jumping back to chat and pasting results, ChatGPT becomes the place where both the thinking and the doing happen. Second, developers get a channel to reach users in a conversational context where the AI provides intent, context, and follow-ups (for example: “show me similar posters” or “show cheaper homes near this station”). WIRED and Ars Technica framed the move as OpenAI trying to make ChatGPT into a universal app frontend or even a kind of “operating system” for the web.

But yes — there are obvious questions and risks

Turning a chatbot into a mini app platform raises thorny tradeoffs.

• Data and privacy. Users who connect apps will trigger permissions and data sharing inside ChatGPT. How apps store, process and reuse that information — and how OpenAI governs cross-app data flows — will matter a lot for user trust. Business Insider and other outlets note OpenAI will prompt users to connect and manage data sharing when first interacting with an app, but the details are the important part.
• Moderation and safety. Third-party app actions executed through an LLM introduce new failure modes: bad instructions, hallucinated actions, or apps that expose users to misleading choices. Who’s responsible when an app inside ChatGPT makes a bad recommendation? OpenAI and partners will need guardrails.
• Regulatory and regional limitations. The rollout notes that some features will be restricted outside certain jurisdictions (the company has previously limited features in the EU). Expect geographic and legal patchworks as regulators examine commerce, data portability, and competition concerns.

What this means for incumbent app platforms and companies

If ChatGPT becomes a commonly used app frontend, it changes a few dynamics:

• For big brands (hotels, streaming, travel), there’s an opportunity to be discoverable inside a high-intent environment — but also a risk of commoditization if the chat controls discovery and UX.
• For smaller developers, embedding in ChatGPT could be a shortcut to reach users who don’t otherwise find them — assuming discoverability and monetization are favourable.
• For Apple and Google, which run the dominant mobile app stores, OpenAI’s “app directory + commerce” play is a strategic nudge: if major services accept transactions inside ChatGPT, the company edges into areas historically dominated by platform owners. Business Insider and VentureBeat even framed the announcement as OpenAI building an app-store-like layer on top of chat.

OpenAI’s Apps SDK is both an incremental product move (developers expose services via an API) and an ambitious gambit: to make the chat itself a living, interactive interface that connects your intent to real tools. The company has shipped the SDK preview, a small set of launch partners, demos that show the potential, and a promise of a directory plus monetization guidance later in the year. But the real test will be whether these in-chat apps feel more convenient and reliable than the very familiar habit of opening a focused app or website — and whether OpenAI and its partners can address privacy, safety and regulatory worries as they scale.