OpenAI provides developers with a fresh way to build applications in ChatGPT. Starting Monday, ChatGPT users will be able to access interactive apps from companies including Booking.com, Expedia, Spotify, Figma, Coursera, Zillow and Canva. OpenAI is also releasing a preview of the Apps SDK, a toolkit for developers to create such applications.
OpenAI made the announcement at its annual DevDay 2025 developer conference.
“We want ChatGPT to be a great way for people to make progress, be more productive, be more resourceful, learn faster, and do better in everything they try to do in their lives,” said CEO Sam Altman. “[Apps inside of ChatGPT] will provide a fresh generation of apps that are interactive, adaptive and personalized that you can chat with.”
The fresh system is OpenAI’s latest attempt to build an application ecosystem around its flagship AI product, ChatGPT. The launch follows OpenAI’s previous attempts to enable developers to create interactive applications, for example through the GPT store. Unlike that product, which was a separate app store, Monday’s launch allows apps to be placed directly in ChatGPT responses and allows users to apply third-party tools in everyday conversations. This gives developers better distribution of the applications they create and is intended to provide a richer experience for ChatGPT users.
By entering the names of various applications in ChatGPT, users can download content from various services. For example, users can say, “Figma, turn this sketch into a viable diagram” to invoke the Figma application. Users can also invoke the Coursera app by asking, “Coursera, can you teach me something about machine learning?”
In the Zillow app demo, users could apply natural language to tell ChatGPT to search for apartments in their area within a specific price range. ChatGPT then displayed an interactive map showing the options, and users could chat with ChatGPT to learn more about each of them.
ChatGPT will also display relevant applications if they may be helpful to the user. If someone asks for a playlist for a party this weekend, ChatGPT can bring up the Spotify app in the conversation. OpenAI says that in the future, apps like DoorDash, Instacart, Uber and AllTrails will also be available on ChatGPT.
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OpenAI says the fresh system is built using the Model Context Protocol (MCP), which allows developers to connect data sources to the artificial intelligence system. ChatGPT applications can also trigger actions and render a fully interactive UI in chatbot responses. Some applications can display videos in ChatGPT, which will be pinned to the top of the web page and can be changed based on user requests.
If users are already subscribed to the product, they will be able to log in to their account directly in ChatGPT to access certain features. Altman also says OpenAI will support ways to monetize apps inside ChatGPT in the future, including through the company’s recently launched ChatGPT Instant Checkout feature.
The key application questions in ChatGPT will be privacy and the amount of data that third-party developers will have access to. OpenAI says developers must “collect only the minimum data needed and be transparent about permissions.” However, it is unclear whether developers will have access to the user’s entire conversation with ChatGPT, the last few messages, or just the prompt that invokes the application.
It’s also unclear how ChatGPT will choose its service between competing companies like DoorDash and Instacart. You can imagine how companies could pay to appear in ChatGPT responses, but OpenAI says it plans to prioritize user experience above all else.