OpenAI is reportedly preparing to launch the most significant overhaul of ChatGPT since its debut in 2022, as the company seeks to transform the chatbot into a powerful 'superapp.' The move is part of an ongoing restructuring aimed at finding new revenue streams ahead of a highly anticipated initial public offering (IPO) this year.
Shift Toward AI Agents and Coding Tools
According to a report by The Financial Times, citing more than a dozen current and former employees, the San Francisco-based company is reallocating internal resources to win over lucrative business customers and compete more fiercely with rival Anthropic. Under pressure to demonstrate a clear path to profitability for its IPO, OpenAI is reportedly moving away from simply answering questions and shifting toward AI 'agents' that can autonomously perform complex everyday tasks. 'Chat is dead,' a senior OpenAI employee told the publication.
OpenAI executives now view ChatGPT, which has reached one billion users, as a gateway to introduce people to higher-value paid services. The upcoming overhaul will reportedly give prominence to the 'Codex' coding product, which writes software based on simple text instructions. The strategy also heavily emphasizes AI agents. 'What we’re building towards is where you have your own personal agent that is capable of helping you across everything in your life, be it personally or at work,' Thibault Sottiaux, OpenAI's head of core product and platform, was quoted as saying. 'You can connect through it on your mobile, desktop or web. When you’re in the car, you can talk to it,' Sottiaux added.
Redesigning ChatGPT App for the IPO Push
The upgrade, which will begin rolling out in the coming weeks, will initially change how ChatGPT appears on web browsers and mobile apps. The interface is expected to feature a new design, guiding users toward coding features, image-generation tools, and third-party applications built by external partners like Canva and Booking.com. Over time, OpenAI plans to phase out manual prompts entirely, betting that the underlying AI will automatically determine what a user wants to do, the report noted. To achieve this vision, OpenAI has undergone a massive corporate restructuring. Teams across ChatGPT and Codex have been consolidated under Sottiaux's single leadership group, following the high-profile departures of several senior executives, including former product head Kevin Weil.
