ChatGPT to become a hub for apps

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OpenAI is transforming ChatGPT from a tool for answering questions into a platform on which users can discover, launch and use apps without leaving the conversation, a shift that could reshape the conventional app-store model, the company announced at its DevDay 2026 conference in San Francisco on Tuesday.

Unveiling the initiative alongside its new Dots AI agents, OpenAI said ChatGPT now serves more than 1.2 billion users each week, thereby offering developers an unparalleled audience for native app experiences. Under the new system, developers can build interactive panels and immersive experiences for their services inside the chatbot. Moreover, the company is broadening app integrations and introducing ways for users to sign in to supported third-party services through ChatGPT, while its ecosystem already links Dots with more than 4,000 apps, enabling the agents to perform tasks on users' behalf.

The Dots agents are designed to operate continuously, using their own cloud computers and browsers, and to interact with connected applications in order to complete assignments ranging from software development and content creation to business operations. Nevertheless, access will initially be limited, as the agents are being rolled out to eligible Pro, Business Premium and Enterprise users.

Notably, OpenAI has yet to announce a conventional app-store-style system for selling apps or sharing revenue with developers. Instead, the company is concentrating on building the underlying infrastructure through which apps can be discovered, connected and used directly within ChatGPT. Consequently, whether this approach will ultimately displace the established app-store model remains an open question, and much will depend on how developers and consumers respond.

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