OpenAI unveils Apps SDK to run third-party apps directly in ChatGPT

OpenAI on Monday unveiled a suite of updates that turn ChatGPT from a conversational assistant into a platform that can run third party apps directly within chat, the company said at its annual developer event in San Francisco. The new Apps SDK enables users to call services such as Spotify, Canva, Booking.com, Expedia and Zillow from a ChatGPT conversation, interact with those services through embedded controls, and connect accounts the first time an app is used. The feature is available now to users outside the European Union on Free, Go, Plus and Pro plans.

Under the new system, ChatGPT may suggest an app when it is relevant to a user’s request or a user can invoke an app by name in natural language. Apps provide interactive elements such as maps, buttons and sliders that can be used inline in the chat window, and the platform prompts users to authorize what data will be shared before an app connects. OpenAI said the Apps SDK is released as a preview and is built on the open Model Context Protocol. Developers can begin building now, with broader submission and publication pipelines planned later in the year.

The move accompanies other product announcements intended to broaden...