"Chat is dead": OpenAI preps overhaul of ChatGPT - Ars Technica

Skip to content

AI

Biz & IT

Cars

Culture

Gaming

Health

Policy

Science

Security

Space

Tech

Forum

Subscribe

Story text

Size

Small<br>Standard<br>Large

Width

Standard<br>Wide

Links

Standard<br>Orange

* Subscribers only

Learn more

Pin to story

Theme

Search

Sign In

Sign in dialog...

Text<br>settings

Story text

Size

Small<br>Standard<br>Large

Width

Standard<br>Wide

Links

Standard<br>Orange

* Subscribers only

Learn more

Minimize to nav

OpenAI is preparing the biggest overhaul of ChatGPT since its launch kicked off the AI boom, as the $850 billion group hunts for new engines of growth ahead of a planned listing this year.

The company intends to transform the chatbot into a “superapp” that combines coding tools and AI agents, adding products that executives believe will generate more revenue.

The changes are part of a broader reorganization at OpenAI as the San Francisco-based company shifts resources into trying to win lucrative business customers and compete more fiercely with rival Anthropic, according to more than a dozen current and former employees.

OpenAI faces growing pressure to drive revenues higher and forge a path to profitability, as it prepares for an initial public offering.

The strategy marks a departure for a company, led by chief executive Sam Altman, that became the face of the AI boom and took the technology mainstream when it unveiled ChatGPT in 2022.

The changes, which will give greater prominence and resources to OpenAI’s coding product Codex, reflect a growing conviction within the company that the future of AI lies not in chatbots that answer questions but in agents that perform tasks for users.

“Chat is dead,” said one senior OpenAI employee.

OpenAI executives increasingly view ChatGPT, which has attracted nearly 1 billion users since its launch, as a gateway to introduce users to higher-value products. The majority of consumers use the chatbot for free.

The company is embarking on the changes amid a belief that the advent of AI agents, which can perform multiple tasks for users from booking travel to organising calendars, will be a more valuable product than the chatbot.

At the same time, products such as Codex are able to write code and create software based on simple instructions from users.

The overhaul, which is set to begin rolling out in coming weeks, will initially appear as changes to ChatGPT’s website and mobile apps, encouraging customers towards using coding, image-generation and apps from external partners.

The changes underline how OpenAI’s strategy is moving closer to that of Anthropic, whose focus on developing products for businesses has stoked its blistering growth, and will be at the heart of its pitch to investors in an IPO this year.

Outlining the changes, Thibault Sottiaux, who previously ran Codex and now leads all of OpenAI’s core product and platform, told the FT: “It will transcend the actual surface . . . 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.”

He added: “You can connect through it on your mobile, desktop or web. When you’re in the car, you can talk to it.”

The majority of Codex users pay for the service, according to people familiar with the matter, while the 2 million businesses that use OpenAI’s products account for roughly 40 percent of its revenue.

The company anticipates this will rise to 50 percent by the end of the year.

OpenAI’s Codex product has increased its user base sixfold to more than 5 million weekly active users since the launch of a desktop application in February.

Its launch has intensified competition with Anthropic, whose Claude Code product has emerged as one of the start-up’s fastest-growing businesses.

“Approximately a year ago, OpenAI’s strategy was swing for the fences, whereas Anthropic’s strategy is make money first,” said Jenny Xiao, partner at Leonis Capital and former researcher at OpenAI.

“Now the two are converging, because both of them are trying to aim for an IPO and investors care more about money than dreams.”

To encourage users to adopt those services, OpenAI is redesigning ChatGPT’s interface, adding new prompts and features that direct users towards coding tools, image generation and applications built by partners such as Canva and Booking.com, according to people familiar with the plans.

Over time, OpenAI intends to ditch the prompts and features, betting that its models will be able to automatically understand users’ intentions when they are on the app or site.

This year, the company has brought ChatGPT, Codex and other product teams under a single leadership group led by Sottiaux, while several senior executives, including former product head Kevin Weil, have departed.

In a sign of OpenAI’s push to win more business customers, some consumer-focused initiatives have been sidelined, including a...