ChatGPT is becoming more than just a conversational AI—it’s turning into a platform. With the launch of embedded apps from companies like Spotify, Figma, Coursera, Expedia, and Zillow, OpenAI is transforming its chatbot into an environment where users can interact directly with third-party services without leaving the chat.
Announced at DevDay 2025, this update introduces “apps inside of ChatGPT,” a concept that bridges chat interaction with app functionality. According to Sam Altman, the goal is to help people “be more productive, more inventive, to learn faster, to do whatever they’re trying to do in their lives better.” By allowing applications to live natively within conversations, ChatGPT becomes a workspace where intent, context, and external tools converge.
The change builds on OpenAI’s past experiments—like the GPT Store—but differs in one key way: apps now live inside ChatGPT’s flow rather than in a separate catalog. A user could say, “Figma, turn this sketch into a workable diagram,” or “Coursera, can you teach me something about machine learning?” and see the requested service respond inline. Zillow’s demo, for instance, showed an interactive apartment search where ChatGPT produced a live map of listings based on natural language input.
These integrations rely on the Model Context Protocol (MCP), which connects external data sources and actions to ChatGPT while supporting interactive UI components. Some apps even embed video directly within responses, adapting dynamically to follow-up prompts.
The experience is designed to feel seamless: if someone asks for “a party playlist for this weekend,” ChatGPT might automatically surface Spotify to fulfill the request. OpenAI plans to add more partners, including DoorDash, Instacart, Uber, and AllTrails.
Developers can begin building their own integrations using the new Apps SDK, now in preview. OpenAI says monetization options—such as its Instant Checkout feature—are on the roadmap, potentially turning ChatGPT into an economic ecosystem as well as a conversational one.
Still, important questions remain. How much access will third-party apps have to user data? OpenAI says developers must “collect only the minimum data they need, and be transparent about permissions,” but specifics around message visibility are not yet clear. And in cases where multiple services provide similar functions—say, food delivery—how ChatGPT decides which to surface first could shape an entirely new kind of competition.
OpenAI’s vision is that ChatGPT becomes a universal interface for software—a single, conversational layer over the web of services people already use. Whether this approach reshapes how we interact with applications will depend on how fluidly developers can integrate their products—and how much trust users place in the system’s handling of data and choice.
For a closer look at the announcement, see TechCrunch’s coverage.