According to a report in TechCrunch, although the focus of OpenAI’s Dev Day on Tuesday may have been on its agentic assistants known as Dots or its new AI models, combined, the AI company’s announcements pointed toward a bigger plan: a disruption of the traditional app store model. Taken together, the announcements turn ChatGPT itself into a place where software can be discovered, launched, and used by people and agents alike.
In addition, OpenAI introduced an option that allows users to bring their ChatGPT identity and use their existing AI allowance within third-party applications. According to the report, while this is not the first time the company has experimented with integrating apps into its chatbot interface, the current vision presents a more defined and cohesive structure than its predecessors.
App Integration and User Identity Inside ChatGPT
The company is working to turn the ChatGPT interface into a central surface for launching applications. According to OpenAI figures, the chatbot currently has 1.2 billion weekly users, but the platform has yet to fully capitalize on its potential as a discovery mechanism for finding and using AI-based apps. To change that, ChatGPT will begin suggesting tailored apps directly within the flow of conversation when the system recognizes that a particular application could help complete the current task.
Once the need is identified, the user will be able to connect the app and use it directly within the ChatGPT interface. This capability is supported by the expansion of the service's plugin architecture, which now includes support for extensions. These extensions allow developers to build interactive panels through which users can operate tools during an ongoing conversation. This structure moves services and applications that were previously operated through web browsers or dedicated desktop and mobile apps directly into the ChatGPT workspace.
As part of this process, developers who join the system will be able to build dedicated versions tailored to an AI environment inside the interface, similar to how they develop for the open web or mobile app stores. Another key incentive for users is the "Sign in with ChatGPT" mechanism, which allows them to bring their personal AI allowance into third-party apps. At launch, 16 initial partners were introduced for this effort, including Notion, Vercel, T3, OpenClaw, Dactyl, and Cognition's Devin, with the company noting that it plans to add more partners soon.
In a demo at the Dev Day event, OpenAI showcased a new meeting app running inside ChatGPT that displayed upcoming meetings from the user's calendar. During the demo, the user could select artificial intelligence to take meeting minutes and receive a summary of follow-up tasks once the meeting ended. Another demo showed the use of design apps from Figma and Adobe to make revisions to an existing project or trigger a dedicated feature that previously required a standalone app. Additionally, these apps can be shared with colleagues through lightweight websites produced by ChatGPT, where coworkers can log in using their own credentials and permissions.
Developer Improvements, Plugin Review, and Enterprise Marketplace
Alongside the user interface changes, OpenAI introduced improvements to the way developers submit plugins for the company's review process. Moving forward, developers will be able to track the review status of their plugin, see which components require fixes, request a review by a human reviewer, and update their plugin's tools without having to restart the entire submission process from scratch.
In addition, the company announced the OpenAI Marketplace—a new marketplace for enterprise applications where business partners can offer their services. At launch, the marketplace includes more than 30 partners, including Adobe, Figma, Sierra, Decagon, HubSpot, Salesforce, ServiceNow, Harvey, Legora, Palo Alto Networks, CrowdStrike, and Baseten. According to OpenAI, eligible customers will be able to apply part of their existing financial commitment to OpenAI toward the purchase of approved software from these partners.
Dots Agents and Cloud-Based Autonomy
OpenAI's rollout also includes the launch of autonomous AI agents known as Dots. According to the report, the shift toward these agents is aimed at a scenario where users do not need to devote much thought to selecting the right application, relying instead on the agent's suggestions. Dots agents are designed to navigate the internet and execute required tasks independently within their dedicated cloud infrastructure.
According to the company, each Dot agent has its own cloud computer and browser, and is capable of using connected apps. While the traditional model required users to download various apps to a computer or phone to manage tasks such as building a website or coordinating a meeting calendar, in the new system the user instructs the agent regarding the desired outcome and the agent executes it. In cases where access to an additional AI model or a dedicated application is required, the agent brings the tool to the user rather than the user searching for it independently.
OpenAI noted that Dots agents will be able to connect to an ecosystem that currently includes over 4,000 apps. The agents can act proactively—such as offering assistance on a project, addressing software bugs, or completing a task the user forgot—all strictly subject to user approval. Furthermore, the agents will perform what the company terms "proactive research" in the background using connected apps in read-only mode, with control over actions remaining in the hands of the user.
Distribution Channels and Economic Aspects
This framework could provide app developers with an additional distribution channel to reach users outside Apple's and Google's app stores. For example, users could subscribe to a service through the app developer's website and then connect that account to ChatGPT or Codex for their agent to use.
However, OpenAI has not stated that these features will eliminate the need for separate subscriptions or additional third-party charges. The company focused on presenting the discovery, distribution, interface, identity layer, and AI allowance sharing components, but did not announce plans on Tuesday for a billing or revenue-sharing system comparable to the economic layer found in traditional app stores.