During its Dev Day event on Tuesday, OpenAI highlighted a strategic pivot aimed at disrupting the conventional app store model. While the company showcased its agentic avatars, known as Dots, and new AI models like GPT-6.1 Sol, the overarching theme was the transformation of ChatGPT into a comprehensive software discovery and execution platform. With a user base now reaching 1.2 billion weekly, OpenAI intends to capitalize on the chatbot’s potential as a primary interface for finding and utilizing AI-integrated applications.
Central to this vision is the expansion of ChatGPT’s plugin architecture to support extensions. This update allows developers to create interactive panels where users can operate tools directly within the chat interface, bypassing the need for standalone web or mobile applications. When ChatGPT detects that a specific app could assist with a user’s request, it will suggest the tool, enabling immediate connection and usage within the conversation flow.
To streamline access, OpenAI introduced “Sign in with ChatGPT,” a feature permitting users to carry their AI allowance and identity into third-party applications. Launch partners include prominent names such as Cognition’s Devin, Notion, Vercel, T3, OpenClaw, and Dactyl. Additionally, the company announced an enterprise marketplace featuring over 30 partners, including Adobe, Salesforce, HubSpot, and CrowdStrike, allowing eligible customers to apply their OpenAI commitments toward approved partner software.
The introduction of autonomous agents known as Dots further supports this ecosystem. Each Dot operates with its own cloud infrastructure and browser, capable of navigating the web and executing tasks using a network of more than 4,000 connected apps. Unlike the traditional model where users must manually select and install various applications for different projects, Dots can proactively handle tasks and conduct background research in read-only modes, though they require user approval for active actions.
OpenAI also updated its developer submission process, akin to Apple’s App Review, allowing creators to track review status, request human intervention, and update tools without resubmitting entire applications. Despite these advances in distribution and interface, OpenAI did not announce plans for a billing or revenue-sharing system comparable to the economic structures of traditional app stores, focusing instead on building the foundational layers for this new distribution channel.
Finally, an app discovery system that understands context! Maybe we won’t need ten different apps for one workflow anymore.
Sign in with ChatGPT sounds convenient, though I wonder how it compares to existing OAuth standards for developer adoption.
Apple and Google need to take note. If users prefer chat-based discovery over scrolling through app catalogs, traditional stores lose their gatekeeper power.
I’m skeptical about Dots browsing the web autonomously. The privacy implications of an agent having full browser access are worrying.
A ChatGPT app store could be huge, but without a revenue model, where’s the incentive for developers to build?