OpenAI unveiled a major expansion of ChatGPT's capabilities yesterday, introducing a new generation of interactive applications that integrate directly into conversations with the AI chatbot. The announcement, made at DevDay 2025, marks the company's latest effort to build a comprehensive ecosystem around its flagship product.

According to the announcement, ChatGPT users can access apps from major companies including Spotify, Canva, Booking.com, Expedia, Figma, Coursera, and Zillow. Unlike OpenAI's previous GPT Store, these apps appear naturally within ChatGPT responses rather than in a separate marketplace, offering developers better distribution and users a more seamless experience.

The system works in two ways. Users can invoke apps by name, such as saying "Spotify, make a playlist for my party this Friday," or ChatGPT can automatically suggest relevant apps during conversations. For instance, if you're discussing home shopping, the chatbot might surface Zillow's app, displaying an interactive map of listings matching your budget—all without leaving the chat interface.

"We want ChatGPT to be a great way for people to make progress, to be more productive, more inventive, to learn faster," said CEO Sam Altman, describing apps that are "interactive, adaptive, and personalized, that you can chat with."

To enable this functionality, OpenAI is releasing the Apps SDK in preview to developers today. Built on the Model Context Protocol, an open standard for connecting AI systems to external tools and data, the SDK allows developers to design both the logic and interface of their applications. The company has made the SDK open source and published documentation with design guidelines and example apps.

Apps are currently available to logged-in ChatGPT users outside the EU on Free, Go, Plus, and Pro plans. OpenAI plans to accept app submissions for publication later this year, along with launching a dedicated app directory and introducing monetization options for developers, including support for instant checkout features.

Additional partners including DoorDash, Instacart, Uber, and AllTrails are expected to launch apps later in 2025.