OpenAI has big plans for ChatGPT. Released as a generative AI chatbot back in 2022, the company has pursued incredible developments over the years to make it into a global force that challenges Google’s dominance in the software space. ChatGPT will continue to evolve into something indispensable – a sort of operating system that could threaten the existence of web browsers and mobile app stores.
This ambitious vision, spearheaded by OpenAI’s head of ChatGPT, Nick Turley, positions conversational AI as the next evolution of the application layer.
The new strategy, revealed following the company’s recent Developer Day, is designed to enable users to interact with third-party software — from utility to commerce — all without ever leaving the conversational window.
“What you’re going to see over the next six months is an evolution of ChatGPT from an app that is really, really useful into something that feels a little bit more like an operating system,” Turley told reporters.
ChatGPT as an OS? How would it work?
This ‘ChatGPT OS’ is being built on a new Apps SDK (Software Development Kit), which allows companies like Spotify, Zillow, Canva, Expedia, and Booking.com to run native, interactive applications directly within ChatGPT. For users, this means asking ChatGPT to “generate a party playlist on Spotify” or “narrow down three-bedroom homes on Zillow” results in the respective app components appearing and executing the task inside the chat – all while maintaining conversational context throughout.
The new strategy aims to solve a key usability problem – the friction of switching between multiple apps. By allowing apps to be summoned, composed, and transacted directly within a conversation, OpenAI is betting that chat becomes the new universal application surface — a model Turley likens to how the web browser quietly became the hub for most knowledge work over the last decade.
OpenAI jumping into the ecosystem trend
The platform play also signals OpenAI’s shift toward monetisation and ecosystem control. The company intends to introduce an “agentic commerce protocol” to facilitate instant checkout and capture transaction fees. Addressing the potential for competition, Turley noted that when multiple apps serve the same purpose (like DoorDash and Instacart), the platform would initially display both, prioritising personalisation and user preference. However, it would not rule out “paid placement” in the future, provided it remains highly relevant to the user’s query.
As ChatGPT already boasts over 800 million weekly active users, this transformation is crucial to OpenAI’s mission. As Turley states, the product is the means by which the company delivers its advances in Artificial General Intelligence (AGI) to humanity. By mixing reasoning, tools, and transactions into one ecosystem, OpenAI is determined to make ChatGPT the central portal for the future of computation.
