Word out of OpenAI’s first DevDay event in almost two years is that the company wants to make its generative AI chatbot ChatGPT more like an “operating system.” A demo by OpenAI CEO Sam Altman showed apps including Spotify, Canva, Figma and Zillow responding to typed commands inside a chat. The company also released a new Apps SDK in preview so developers can start building for the ChatGPT platform. “Building with the Apps SDK makes it possible to reach over 800 million ChatGPT users at just the right time,” according to OpenAI. Other pilot partners include Booking.com, Coursera and Expedia.

“Apps will be available today to all logged-in ChatGPT users outside of the EU on Free, Go, Plus and Pro plans,” OpenAI explains in a blog post that says the company expects to offer apps to EU users “soon.” Pilot partner apps are immediately available “in markets where their services are offered, starting with English.” More pilot partners will launch later this year.

Apps built for ChatGPT use open standards, reports Wired, citing examples of how the in-chat apps work. OpenAI Software Engineer Alexi Christakis “asked ChatGPT to suggest a city that would be ideal to expand the business into,” and after it offered Pittsburgh, he summoned the Zillow ChatGPT app and asked to see homes for sale in the city, triggering an interactive map with available properties.

In another example, Christakis launched a chat that invoked the Canva app and asked it to design posters for a dog-walking business. The chat then advanced to building a pitch deck to raise funding for the launch.

OpenAI is also launching AgentKit, a set of developer tools for build and deploying agents for any real-world environment. “Until now, building agents meant juggling fragmented tools … and weeks of frontend work before launch,” according to an AgentKit blog post that states the resource speeds things up by letting developers “design workflows visually” and embed agentic UIs more efficiently.

Basically, AgentKit lets developers build AI agents using drag and drop, reports VentureBeat, noting that it “enables developers and enterprises to build agents and add chat capabilities in one place, potentially competing with platforms like Zapier.”

AgentKit has three main components: Agent Builder is a visual canvas handy for versioning workflows; Connector Registry is a hub where admins can manage connections across OpenAI products; ChatKit is for embedding customizable chat-based agent experiences in products.

“Eventually, OpenAI said it will build a standalone Workflows API and add agent deployment tabs to ChatGPT,” VentureBeat explains.

In other news, the Codex agentic coding assistant introduced in May is now generally available, CNBC points out.

A replay of Altman’s DevDay 2025 opening keynote is available on YouTube.

Related:
Sam Altman Says ChatGPT Has Hit 800M Weekly Active Users, TechCrunch, 10/6/25
Jony Ive Says He Wants His OpenAI Devices to ‘Make Us Happy’, Wired, 10/6/25
OpenAI Has a Billion-Dollar Hardware Headache, Quartz, 10/7/25
ChatGPT Becomes the New App Store – and Hardware Is Coming, VentureBeat, 10/7/25