OpenAI is preparing the most extensive update to ChatGPT since its 2022 debut, aiming to transform it from a chatbot into an integrated "super app" featuring programming tools and AI agents. The company, valued at $850 billion, is also preparing for an IPO this year, facing urgent pressure to boost revenue and achieve profitability.
According to a report citing over a dozen current and former employees, this overhaul will begin rolling out in the coming weeks. It will initially manifest as interface changes on the ChatGPT website and mobile app, designed to guide users toward its programming tools, image generation features, and applications from external partners like Canva and Booking.com. For the company that brought AI into the mainstream with a single chatbot and ignited a global AI frenzy, this represents a major strategic pivot.
Shifting Away from Chat
The sentiment within the company is captured by a senior OpenAI employee's statement: "Chat is dead." The core logic behind this is that the future of AI lies not in question-answering chatbots, but in intelligent agents that can perform tasks for users—from booking travel to managing calendars. While ChatGPT has attracted nearly one billion users, the majority are free users. OpenAI's leadership increasingly views it as a gateway to higher-value products rather than the end destination.
A key beneficiary of this update is the programming product Codex. Since launching a desktop application in February, Codex's weekly active users have grown sixfold to over five million, with most being paying customers. Codex can write code and build software based on simple user instructions.
Thibault Sottiaux, who previously led Codex and now oversees all of OpenAI's core products and platforms, stated, "What we are building is a personal agent that can help you in all aspects of your life—both personal and professional. You can connect with it via your phone, desktop, or web, and you can talk to it in your car."
As model capabilities improve, OpenAI plans to gradually phase out guided prompts in the interface, allowing the model to automatically understand user intent. Executives believe the boundaries between software categories like chatbots, programming tools, and search products will blur, with users ultimately interacting with a single AI assistant rather than switching between multiple standalone apps.
Converging Strategies
This overhaul also marks a strategic shift—from focusing on consumer-facing "dream-building" to prioritizing enterprise-facing "revenue generation." This is expected to be a central narrative for OpenAI's IPO pitch to investors.
Currently, there are two million enterprise customers using OpenAI's products, contributing approximately 40% of revenue, a figure the company expects to rise to 50% by year-end. The rise of Codex also intensifies direct competition with Anthropic, whose Claude Code has become one of its fastest-growing businesses.
A partner at Leonis Capital and former OpenAI researcher noted, "About a year ago, OpenAI's strategy was to swing for the fences, while Anthropic's was to make money first. Now the two are converging because they are both heading for IPOs, and investors care more about money than dreams."
Organizational structure has adjusted accordingly. This year, OpenAI consolidated the ChatGPT, Codex, and other product teams under a unified structure led by Sottiaux. Several executives, including the former head of product, have departed. Some consumer-focused initiatives have been shelved: a built-in checkout feature for ChatGPT was halted, and the video generation product Sora, launched less than a year ago, has been shut down.
OpenAI's head of enterprise products, Alex Embiricos, outlined a more distant endgame: "When we achieve AGI, I don't think there will be a multitude of different brands. There will likely be just one entity I can talk to that can do everything I need."
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