OpenAI is taking a major step toward changing how people discover and use software, with its latest announcements pointing to a future where ChatGPT could become an alternative gateway to the traditional app store model. During its Dev Day event, the company unveiled new tools, AI models and agentic assistants called Dots, while expanding the ability to use third-party applications directly within ChatGPT. OpenAI says ChatGPT now has about 1.2 billion weekly users, giving the platform a potentially huge audience for app discovery and distribution.
Under the new system, ChatGPT will be able to recommend apps during conversations when it detects that a particular service could help complete a user’s task. Users can then connect the recommended application and interact with it without leaving ChatGPT. OpenAI is also expanding its plugin architecture to support more interactive app-like interfaces, allowing developers to create tools that users can operate inside the chatbot rather than switching between websites, desktop applications or mobile apps.
The company is also introducing “Sign in with ChatGPT,” which allows users to carry their ChatGPT identity and AI allowance into participating third-party applications. Early partners include Notion, Vercel, Cognition’s Devin, T3, OpenClaw and Dactyl. OpenAI demonstrated how applications such as meeting tools, Figma and Adobe could work within ChatGPT, allowing users to perform tasks such as taking meeting notes, revising designs and accessing other software features directly from their conversations.
For businesses, OpenAI is also creating a new enterprise app marketplace where companies can promote and distribute their services to customers. More than 30 partners are participating at launch, including Adobe, Figma, HubSpot, Salesforce, ServiceNow, CrowdStrike and Palo Alto Networks. OpenAI is also improving its plugin review process, giving developers more visibility into submissions and allowing them to address issues, request human reviews and update tools without restarting the entire submission process.
The bigger shift, however, could come from OpenAI’s AI agents, known as Dots. Rather than requiring users to search for the right application themselves, the agents can determine which tools are needed and carry out tasks using connected apps and their own cloud computers and browsers. OpenAI says Dots can connect to more than 4,000 apps and can conduct background research with user approval. While the company has built the discovery and distribution infrastructure to challenge the traditional app-store model, it has not yet announced a comparable billing or revenue-sharing system, meaning separate subscriptions and payments to third-party services may still remain part of the ecosystem.
source: techcrunch