A marketplace in your chat – OpenAI’s new Apps feature lets ChatGPT users call services such as Coursera, Booking.com and Figma right inside a conversation.
Developers invited – The Apps SDK uses the open Model Context Protocol to let anyone build an interactive app on top of ChatGPT.
Education gets priority – Coursera CEO Greg Hart believes the integration will expand access to trusted courses and job‑ready skills to millions.
Introduction – learning with an AI tutor
On a humid October night in Bangalore, Sanya opens ChatGPT and types a simple query: “I want to learn Python for data science. What’s the fastest way?” Instead of a wall of text, the chat responds with a Coursera card. A click opens a mini‑app in the chat panel – a polished interface listing courses, start dates and instructor bios. Sanya browses, adds a course to her learning plan and pays – all without leaving the chat.
OpenAI calls these “apps.” At the company’s 2025 DevDay, CEO Sam Altman announced that ChatGPT would no longer be just a question‑answering bot but a platform for interactive services. Early partners include Booking.com, Canva, Coursera, Expedia, Figma, Instacart, Klarna, Shopify, Slack, Square, Spotify, Zillow and others. Each app can present interactive widgets, fetch data from the company’s APIs and perform transactions.
What happened? – from plugins to apps
The apps announcement builds on last year’s short‑lived plug‑ins experiment. OpenAI said that the new apps work with an open standard called the Model Context Protocol (MCP), which defines how messages, state and UI components flow between ChatGPT and third‑party services. Developers can build their own apps using the Apps SDK, connect to an existing backend and let ChatGPT handle the conversational glue.
Unlike plug‑ins, apps live inside a tab on the left. ChatGPT proactively suggests them when a conversation requires external data (“looking for flights? Try Expedia”). The company says apps will be rolled out to all ChatGPT Plus, Team and Enterprise users over the coming weeks. At DevDay, Sam Altman promised to share details about revenue‑sharing later.
Coursera leads the education push
The education partnership stole the show. Coursera’s CEO Greg Hart described the integration as “expanding access to learning and helping people grow and thrive.” Leah Belsky, OpenAI’s VP of Education, said the goal is to combine human expertise with AI and “connect learners to high‑quality, trusted content.” According to Coursera, ChatGPT already has over 100 million weekly users (some reports estimate 800 million), giving the app enormous reach.
Instead of Googling “best machine learning course,” learners can ask ChatGPT directly. The Coursera app returns course outlines, learning objectives and instructor credentials. It can even assemble a personalized curriculum and schedule reminders in the chat.
For Hart and Belsky, the integration is more than convenience. It positions Coursera inside the very place where millions of knowledge workers and students already ask questions. “Combining human expertise with AI can help people build job‑ready skills faster,” Belsky said.
A new platform for developers
OpenAI’s Apps SDK is available in preview. It lets developers define UI components, declare API endpoints and manage persistent state. The company notes that apps should be built with privacy and security in mind; data can be stored on the developer’s servers, and ChatGPT will request explicit user permissions before sending any sensitive information.
The open standard means developers can host their own backends and still integrate seamlessly. The company positions the Apps SDK as a “platform for building the next generation of chat‑based services,” suggesting a future app store where developers can monetize their offerings. Altman has teased an eventual revenue‑sharing model but has yet to publish the details.
How the community reacted
On X (formerly Twitter), developer threads lit up with speculation. “This is the moment ChatGPT becomes the new iOS,” wrote one founder. Another noted that the open MCP standard could break the stranglehold of proprietary AI assistants. On Reddit, some educators cheered the Coursera integration as a way to guide students to credible sources, while others worried that centralizing the learning experience in a single platform could reduce discovery.
Outside of tech circles, excitement was more tempered. A YouTube reviewer compared the apps to “mini‑websites inside a chat,” calling them “cool but overkill” for simple tasks like checking the weather. Privacy advocates raised concerns about ChatGPT suggesting commercial services without disclosing whether they are sponsored placements.
Analysis – ChatGPT becomes an operating system
The apps strategy turns ChatGPT into a de facto operating system for tasks that previously required hopping between websites. Booking a trip, designing a flyer or ordering groceries can now be done in a single chat. This convenience could drive even more usage and cement ChatGPT as a hub for consumer services. At the same time, it raises questions about competition and gatekeeping. If the assistant begins suggesting certain apps over others, will smaller startups get buried? OpenAI says apps will be suggested based on relevance, not payment, but details remain sparse.
There is also the question of user trust. Handing payment credentials to a chatbot to book flights or sign up for a course will require robust security. OpenAI emphasizes that apps must declare their data requirements and that the user must consent before sending any personal information. Still, given recent high‑profile data breaches, trust will need to be earned.
From a developer perspective, the Apps SDK could attract a new wave of entrepreneurs building micro‑services for ChatGPT. Imagine a vertical‑specific AI agent that handles tax filings or mental health check‑ins. With ChatGPT managing the conversation and the app managing domain logic, developers can focus on value rather than UI design.
What’s next?
OpenAI plans to expand the app ecosystem over the next year. Upcoming partners include financial tools, fitness trackers and home automation systems. The company is also working on monetization, likely taking a cut of transactions initiated within ChatGPT. For now, the focus is on onboarding developers and collecting feedback.
For users like Sanya, the promise is simple: fewer browser tabs, more integrated experiences. Whether that convenience outweighs the potential risks of centralizing services inside a proprietary platform will depend on how OpenAI handles transparency and fairness—something already being tested in consumer launches like the Sora TikTok app. But there is no question that ChatGPT’s evolution into a platform marks a new chapter in the AI assistant story.
