- OpenAI is transforming ChatGPT into a productivity-focused "superapp" integrating coding tools and third-party services.
- The company aims to boost enterprise revenue to 50% of income by year-end, prioritizing paid tools like Codex.
- A strategic shift from chatbot to AI agent-driven platform reflects competition with Anthropic and IPO ambitions.
- OpenAI is streamlining operations, sidelining consumer features like Sora to focus on enterprise profitability.
- The overhaul envisions a unified AI assistant capable of managing tasks across personal and professional domains.
OpenAI is embarking on a transformative overhaul of its flagship ChatGPT platform, aiming to position it as a "superapp" that integrates coding tools, AI agents, and third-party services like Canva and Booking.com. This shift, reported by the Financial Times and corroborated by multiple insiders, marks a strategic pivot toward enterprise clients and a potential initial public offering (IPO).
With enterprise revenue already accounting for 40% of OpenAI's income — driven by 2 million businesses — the company aims to push this share to 50% by year-end. The move underscores a broader industry trend where AI firms are racing to monetize their technology in an increasingly competitive landscape.
The Superapp vision: Beyond chat to enterprise
At the heart of OpenAI's overhaul is a reimagined ChatGPT designed to function as a central hub for productivity. The platform will prioritize tools like Codex, a paid coding product with over 5 million weekly active users, alongside AI agents capable of managing tasks such as booking travel or organizing calendars.
Thibault Sottiaux, OpenAI's product leader, outlined the vision: "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. You can connect through it on your mobile, desktop or web. When you're in the car, you can talk to it." By steering users toward coding and task automation, OpenAI seeks to transition from a question-answering chatbot to a multifunctional platform.
This strategy mirrors Anthropic's focus on enterprise clients, as both companies vie for dominance in the AI-as-a-service market. Jenny Xiao, a partner at Leonis Capital and former researcher at OpenAI, noted that OpenAI's earlier "swing for the fences" approach — prioritizing innovation over profit — is now converging with Anthropic's revenue-first model. "Now the two are converging, because both of them are trying to aim for an IPO and investors care more about money than dreams," Xiao said. The overhaul is expected to roll out in weeks, with redesigned interfaces and prompts nudging users toward premium tools and partner integrations.
Strategic shifts and IPO timelines
OpenAI's push for enterprise growth comes as it prepares for a potential IPO, with Reuters reporting in May that the company was preparing a confidential U.S. filing. CEO Sam Altman has remained noncommittal about timing, stating the company will go public when it makes sense. The reorganization includes consolidating product teams under Sottiaux and sidelining consumer-focused initiatives like in-app purchases and the short-lived Sora video-generation tool. These cuts signal a focus on profitability, even as OpenAI faces pressure to deliver sustainable revenue.
Codex is central to this strategy. While most ChatGPT users access the platform for free, Codex's paid model has seen rapid adoption, with its user base growing sixfold since its desktop app launch in February. One senior OpenAI employee captured the prevailing internal mood bluntly: "Chat is dead" — signaling the company's conviction that AI agents will prove far more valuable than the chatbot that made it famous.
Competition heats up as OpenAI rethinks AI's future
OpenAI's rivalry with Anthropic is intensifying as both firms court enterprise clients. Anthropic's Claude Code product has become a key growth driver, prompting OpenAI to accelerate its own enterprise-focused initiatives. Alex Embiricos, OpenAI's enterprise product head, predicted that AGI could eventually unify disparate tools into a single assistant: "When we have [artificial general intelligence], I don't think there will be a large number of distinct brands. Probably there will be a single entity that I can talk to that can do whatever I need."
Despite its ambitious plans, OpenAI faces real hurdles, such as balancing the needs of 900 million weekly active users against enterprise demands, managing internal reorganization following the departure of key executives including former product head Kevin Weil, and competing with a rival that has made enterprise its core identity from the start. Whether the superapp vision delivers will likely define OpenAI's standing with investors when it eventually goes public.
Sources for this article include:
Please contact us for more information.