The focus of OpenAI\u2019s Dev Day on Tuesday may have been on its agentic assistants known as Dots<\/a>, or its new AI models<\/a>, but combined, the AI company\u2019s announcements pointed towards a bigger plan: a disruption of the traditional app store model. Taken together, today\u2019s announcements turn ChatGPT itself into the place where software can be discovered, launched, and used by people and agents alike.<\/p>\n In addition, OpenAI introduced a way for people to bring their ChatGPT identity with them, while also allowing them to use their existing AI allowance in third-party apps. <\/p>\n This isn\u2019t the first time OpenAI has experimented with how apps could operate<\/a> within its familiar chatbot interface, but the current vision feels more fleshed out than before. <\/p>\n For starters, the comapny is turning ChatGPT itself into a surface for launching apps. The chatbot, which the company says now has 1.2 billion weekly users, has yet to fully capitalize on its potential as a discovery mechanism for finding and using apps that work with AI.<\/p>\n To change that, ChatGPT will begin to make app suggestions within the flow of conversation when it recognizes that a particular app could help the user complete their task. From there, the user will be able to connect the app and begin using it directly within ChatGPT. <\/p>\n This is also aided by the expansion of ChatGPT\u2019s plugin architecture,<\/a> which now supports extensions. <\/p>\n This allows app developers to build interactive panels where users can work with their tools while they\u2019re chatting with ChatGPT. This essentially turns the apps and services that users would have previously used via the web or through a native desktop or mobile app into something that\u2019s operated directly within ChatGPT. <\/p>\n Developers that sign on with the system can build AI-native versions of their apps through ChatGPT, the same way they would through the open web or a mobile app store. As more and more discovery happens through AI chat, it\u2019s a distribution channel that\u2019s hard to pass up.<\/p>\n Users get an incentive to use that channel too, because \u201cSign in with ChatGPT<\/a>\u201d will let them bring their AI allowance with them. (OpenAI has 16 launch partners on this effort, including Cognition\u2019s Devin, Notion, Vercel, T3, OpenClaw, and Dactyl, but plans to add more soon, it says.)<\/p>\n In a demo at OpenAI\u2019s Dev Day event, the company showed off how its own new meeting app<\/a> could work inside ChatGPT, showing upcoming meetings from the user\u2019s calendar. Here, the user could easily choose to use AI to take meeting notes, then receive a summary of follow-up items when the meeting wrapped.<\/p>\n In another example, users would work with design-focused apps like those from Figma and Adobe to work on revisions of their current project or use a particular feature that would have otherwise required a standalone app. <\/p>\n The apps can be shared with others, like work colleagues, in the lightweight websites ChatGPT now produces. From these ChatGPT sites, a user\u2019s coworkers could sign in to the app with their own credentials and permissions, making the software experience personalized to them.<\/p>\n OpenAI also talked about improvements to how developers submit plugins for review \u2014 OpenAI\u2019s version of Apple\u2019s App Review process, if you wil. Now, developers will be able to track their review, see what needs to be fixed, request a human review, and update their plugin\u2019s tools without starting their whole submission over.<\/p>\n The company also announced a new enterprise app marketplace where partners can market their services. At launch, there are some 30-plus partners offering their app through the OpenAI Marketplace, including Adobe, Figma, Sierra, Decagon, HubSpot, Salesforce, ServiceNow, Harvey, Legora, Palo Alto Networks, CrowdStrike, Baseten, and others. Eligible customers can apply part of their OpenAI commitment toward approved partner software, OpenAI said.<\/p>\n Beyond turning ChatGPT into an app discovery tool where users connect with apps directly, OpenAI\u2019s embrace of agents is gently pushing users into a new era where they don\u2019t have to think as much about which app to use or why, relying instead on their AI agents\u2019 suggestions.<\/p>\n With the launch of its autonomous AI agents known as Dots<\/a>, agents will navigate the web for you, executing the tasks that need to be done in their own cloud infrastructure. Each Dot has its own cloud computer and browser, and can also use connected apps. Compare this to the old model, where users who wanted to manage some type of project \u2014 like building a website or coordinating a meeting calendar \u2014 would have to download different apps to their computer or phone to make that happen.<\/p>\n Now, users will instead tell an AI agent what they want to have done, and it will simply do it for them. In some cases, the agent\u2019s work may require access to another AI model or a particular application. But this is something the agent may bring to the user, rather than the other way around \u2014 where the user is the one to go out and seek the particular tool for the job.<\/p>\n As OpenAI explains, the Dots will be able to connect to its ecosystem of now over 4,000 apps. <\/p>\n What\u2019s more, the Dots can be proactive, perhaps jumping in to offer help with a project or bug, or handling a task the user forgot \u2014 but all done with the user\u2019s approval. The Dots will perform what OpenAI calls \u201cproactive research\u201d in the background using connected apps in a read-only mode, but users would still have control over the actions they take. <\/p>\n This system could give app makers another way to reach customers outside of Apple and Google\u2019s app stores. For instance, users could subscribe to a service through the app maker\u2019s website, then connect that account to ChatGPT or Codex for their agent to use. OpenAI has not said, however, that these features would eliminate the need for separate third-party subscriptions or other charges. <\/p>\n Notably, OpenAI didn\u2019t tease any plans on this front today, instead focusing on how it\u2019s building the discovery, distribution, and interface pieces to counter the app store model, along with an identity layer and a mechanism for sharing a user\u2019s existing ChatGPT AI allowance. It did not announce plans Tuesday for a billing or revenue-sharing system that\u2019s comparable to the economic layer of traditional app stores. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n When you purchase through links in our articles, we may earn a small commission<\/a>. This doesn\u2019t affect our editorial independence.<\/em><\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Screenshot-2026-09-29-at-1.16.22-PM.jpg?w=680\")