OpenAI unveils the Apps SDK in preview, built on MCP, to let developers build ChatGPT apps, and says that it will begin accepting app submissions later in 2025
Expedia, Spotify, Canva, Zillow, Others Now Available Tech Xplore : OpenAI unveils ChatGPT app integration feature OpenAI : App developer guidelines Zillow MediaRoom : Zillow debuts the only real estate app in ChatGPT Rocket Drew / The Information : OpenAI Adds Outside Apps to ChatGPT Matt G. Southern / Search Engine Journal : OpenAI Launches Apps In ChatGPT & Releases Apps SDK Reuters : Mattel partners with OpenAI on Sora 2 AI video model Larry Dignan / Constellation Research : OpenAI sets SDKs for app integrations, agentic AI building blocks Matthias Bastian / The Decoder : Developers can now build and deploy both apps and agents directly on the ChatGPT platform Jay Peters / The Verge : Developers can bring Sora 2's AI video generation into their own apps. Ina Fried / Axios : OpenAI reboots its ChatGPT app effort X: Yuchen Jin / @yuchenj_uw : OpenAI's App SDK is a genius move. The goal: make ChatGPT the default interface for everyone, where you can talk to all your apps. ChatGPT becomes the new OS, the place where people spend most of their time. Ironically, Anthropic invented MCP, but it makes OpenAI unbeatable. Apoorv Agrawal / @apoorv03 : Biggest takeaway from Dev Day is Apps SDK. Turns ChatGPT into a work super app. You start with a prompt, it routes to Figma, Canva, Spotify, Zillow, and back. The OS shifts from device to intent. Distribution becomes “be where the prompt is.” Prediction: within 12 months the default workplace start screen is ChatGPT with apps. That will be your browser homepage... Dan Mac / @daniel_mac8 : 🤯 OpenAI just announced the Apps SDK. It allows you to use web apps directly in ChatGPT. ChatGPT will become the front door to the internet. Incredibly bold ambition. [image] Vas / @vasumanmoza : OpenAI just murdered half of SF's startups. Was an impressive DevDay today, here's everything you missed (bookmark this): 1. Apps SDK: Shopify App Ecosystem / Whop App Ecosystem but for ChatGPT. Presumably (?) with monetization down the line. Build apps that anyone can use, Greg Isenberg / @gregisenberg : chatgpt is the new app store @protosphinx : rip n8n, rip zapier, rip all agent stack startups... Dan Shipper / @danshipper : 🚨 for these startups: - Gumloop - Lindy - Zapier (to some extent) Game on Joe Devon / @joedevon : Who else is going to release an app store like OpenAI just did? I bet every AI player will make their own version. @sama also said they are publishing a standard, so depending on how that looks, it could actually be a pretty benevolent move. Is OpenAI starting to live up to the Kazi / @wolfofbaystreet : app kit was cool. gets your app discoverable in chat gpt and people can use it from within the app. the latter maybe not useful for everything but the former def worth it for the free GEO. agentkit is just bullish on agent workflows (if you are building these, congrats, your Greg Kamradt / @gregkamradt : Turns out ChatGPT was OpenAI's browser all along No need for a new one @koltregaskes : OpenAI basically just announced a new app store. 800 million weekly users are already waiting for them. This will be huge! Ina Fried / @inafried : The new approach is based on MCP. Initial apps include https://booking.com/, Spotify, Figma, Coursera and Zillow. Tools for a broader set of developers released today with the ability to list such apps coming later this year. Nick Dobos / @nickadobos : ChatGPT App Store. Lets you build entire UIs in ChatGPT Hints at monetization [image] Bluesky: Casey Newton / @caseynewton : I wrote about OpenAI's ambitious platform play and the Cambridge Analytica flashbacks it inspired. Plus, Sam Altman takes my question about enshittification risk www.platformer.news/openai-dev- d... [image] Lauren Goode / @laurengoode : ChatGPT is starting to look less like a chatbot and more like...an operating system www.wired.com/story/openai... latest from me & @willknight.bsky.social Forums: r/technology : OpenAI Wants ChatGPT to Be Your Future Operating System r/technews : OpenAI Wants ChatGPT to Be Your Future Operation System r/OpenAI : OpenAI Wants ChatGPT to Be Your Future Operation System
Context & Ripple Effects
OpenAI has been moving from standalone custom GPTs toward a platform surface: its earlier GPT Store for user-made bots created distribution, while ChatGPT Agent combined browsing and research capabilities in one interface.
The recent Instant Checkout rollout extended that surface into transactions. Third-party services such as Expedia, Spotify, Canva, Zillow, Booking.com, Figma, and Coursera now make the developer layer consequential rather than merely experimental.
First-order effects
- Developers gain a preview SDK, built on MCP, for creating and deploying apps inside ChatGPT; OpenAI plans to start accepting submissions later in 2025.
- The initial partners gain a new in-chat entry point, while OpenAI assumes the immediate work of setting app-submission rules and managing platform access.
Second-order effects
- Service providers that want to remain visible where users ask for help may need to package core actions as ChatGPT apps, not just maintain standalone sites or APIs.
- The SDK can connect discovery, task completion, and commerce in one ChatGPT flow; that makes the earlier in-chat checkout capability more useful to participating merchants and service platforms.
Third-order effects
- If developers and users adopt the model, ChatGPT could evolve from a general assistant into an assistant operating layer where third-party services compete for placement, workflow access, and user attention.
- MCP-based integration may lower the cost of serving multiple AI interfaces, but it also makes platform governance—submission approval, data access, and commercial terms—a more important control point for OpenAI.
The trend: This is part of the shift from chatbots as destinations to assistants as programmable work surfaces that orchestrate third-party services and transactions.