According to inside information obtained by the Financial Times, OpenAI is preparing a major product shift. In the coming weeks, ChatGPT will evolve from a simple conversation tool into a 'super app' that integrates the Codex coding tool and AI agent functionality. A senior employee inside the company bluntly stated, 'Chat is dead,' signaling that the traditional chat interface will be replaced by a more powerful all-purpose gateway.
From Chatbot to Personal Agent: Thibault Sottiaux's Vision
Thibault Sottiaux, who oversees OpenAI's core products and platform, revealed that the company is building 'a personal agent that can help you in all aspects of your life, both personal and work.' This means ChatGPT will no longer just reply with text — it will be able to write code, analyze data, manage schedules, and even book flights. The super app ambition is not new: Fast Company reported on it last year, and the Wall Street Journal noted in March that after launching a flurry of standalone products in 2025, executives decided to kill 'side quests,' including the once-talked-about video generation model Sora. Former product head Kevin Weil and researcher Bill Peebles have both left, underscoring an internal strategy slim-down.
IPO Countdown: The Business Logic of a Super App
This pivot is tightly linked to OpenAI's IPO plans. The Wall Street Journal previously reported that OpenAI could go public as early as September 2026. Before then, it must demonstrate sustainable revenue growth to capital markets. Converting free ChatGPT users into paying customers for Codex and other products is the most direct monetization path. Executives believe the super app model can boost user retention and average revenue per user (ARPU) — key metrics Wall Street focuses on when pricing an IPO.
Meanwhile, OpenAI faces growing competition from Anthropic in the enterprise market. Anthropic's Claude series continues to gain ground in coding and enterprise deployments, recently doubling Claude Cowork usage caps and securing a $200 million partnership with the Gates Foundation. By rolling out a super app, OpenAI aims to retain enterprise clients with a one-stop solution. In the AI arms race, whoever integrates the most features into a single platform first will own the next-generation user gateway.
Industry Logic: WeChat for the AI Era
From a broader perspective, OpenAI's super app strategy is not without precedent. In Asian markets, WeChat has already proven the super app business model — one app for messaging, payments, ride-hailing, shopping, and more. OpenAI is now trying to replicate that logic in the AI era: ChatGPT will no longer be a 'chatbot' but an AI operating system that can write programs, analyze data, schedule calendars, and even buy plane tickets. For average users, the ChatGPT experience will change noticeably in the next few weeks. For the entire AI industry, OpenAI's move signals a trend: pure conversational AI is fading, replaced by an ecosystem of AI agents with action capabilities and cross-platform integration. As the internal mantra goes, 'Chat is dead' — a new era of human-AI interaction is about to begin.