OpenAI plans to ‘pivot to ChatGPT superapp prior to IPO’

OpenAI is preparing to transform its chatbot into a “superapp” that combines coding tools and AI agents in a bid to generate more revenue, the Financial Times has reported.

Citing more than a dozen current and former employees, the paper reported that the changes are part of a broader reorganisation at the company as it shifts resources into trying to win more enterprise customers and compete more closely with rival Anthropic.

OpenAI has historically focused on its consumer-facing ChatGPT over products aimed at businesses. Its chatbot remains by far the most popular of those offered, according to Similarweb traffic data. However, the company has struggled to capitalise on this commercially as the majority of its customers do not pay for the service, and the rollout of adverts only began earlier this year.

The changes will give greater prominence and resources to OpenAI’s coding product Codex, and reflect a growing conviction in the company that AI’s future lies in agents rather than chatbots, according to the FT.

“Chat is dead,” one senior OpenAI employee told the paper.

The overhaul is due to roll out in coming weeks, and will initially appear as changes to ChatGPT’s website and mobile apps, encouraging users towards coding, image generation and apps from external partners, per the paper.

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, people familiar with the matter told the paper, and the 2 million businesses that use OpenAI’s products already account for around 40 per cent of its revenue. The company expects this to rise to 50 per cent by the end of 2026.

This move puts OpenAI in more direct competition with rival Anthropic, which has focused on enterprise-level coding software and has claimed to be on track to earn a profit in the second quarter of 2026.



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