OpenAI pivots ChatGPT to ‘superapp’ model ahead of IPO
The overhaul, which sidelines consumer-focused initiatives like Sora, signals a strategic convergence with rival Anthropic as OpenAI seeks to drive profitability for investors.
OpenAI is executing a significant restructuring of its flagship ChatGPT product, transforming the chatbot into a comprehensive “superapp” that integrates coding tools and autonomous AI agents. The move is designed to drive higher-margin revenue and accelerate the company’s path to profitability ahead of a planned initial public offering later this year. The overhaul marks a strategic departure for the San Francisco-based group, which has shifted resources away from free consumer usage toward lucrative business customers and products such as Codex.
The strategic pivot reflects an internal conviction that the future of artificial intelligence lies in agents that perform tasks rather than chatbots that simply answer questions. One senior OpenAI employee reportedly described this shift with the phrase “Chat is dead.” Executives view ChatGPT, which has attracted nearly 1 billion users since its launch, as a gateway to introduce users to higher-value services. The company is betting that AI agents capable of handling complex tasks, from booking travel to organising calendars, will generate more sustained revenue than the conversational interface that initially popularised the technology.
Central to this strategy is the Codex coding assistant, which has seen its user base increase sixfold to more than 5 million weekly active users following the launch of its desktop application in February. Approximately 40 percent of OpenAI’s revenue currently comes from its 2 million business customers, a figure the company projects will rise to 50 percent by the end of the year. Thibault Sottiaux, who now leads all of OpenAI’s core product and platform, outlined a vision for a personal agent accessible across mobile, desktop, web, and voice interfaces, including in-car systems.
The restructuring also involves a closer alignment with the business-focused approach of rival Anthropic, whose growth has been driven by enterprise solutions. Jenny Xiao, a partner at Leonis Capital and former OpenAI researcher, noted that while OpenAI previously prioritised ambitious growth, the company is now converging with Anthropic’s strategy of prioritising revenue as both firms prepare for public markets. This shift is evident in OpenAI’s redesign of the ChatGPT interface, which now directs users toward coding, image generation, and third-party partner applications such as Canva and Booking.com.
As part of the broader reorganisation, several consumer-focused initiatives have been sidelined or shut down, including a checkout feature within ChatGPT and the Sora video-generation product. Senior executives, including former product head Kevin Weil, have departed the company as leadership is consolidated under Sottiaux. OpenAI intends to eventually remove manual prompts, betting that its models will automatically understand user intentions, thereby blurring the distinction between chatbots, coding tools, and other software categories in the lead-up to its public listing.
