OpenAI no longer wants to limit ChatGPT to just one app or chatbot, but is working towards making it a complete operating system. To take forward this big vision, the company has also appointed a new senior executive. On Monday, OpenAI confirmed the appointment of Glen Coates as Head of App Platform, who himself has said that his goal is to help turn ChatGPIT into an OS.
Till now we know ChatGPTT as an app or platform, where users ask questions and AI gives answers. But with time ChatGPT became not just a conversation tool. It now has AI agents that can connect to different apps and services.
OpenAI has also recently launched the ChatGPT Apps feature, which allows third-party apps to work within ChatGPT. That means the user does not need to open different apps, everything can be done in the ChatGPT interface itself.
How close is ChatGPT to becoming an OS?
The job of any operating system is to become a bridge between hardware, user and apps.
Seen from this perspective, ChatGPT is already doing a number of things:
- This is a user interface,
- It has support for apps and tools
- It has in-built search, data access, and context understanding capabilities
- Now the only thing left is deep integration with the hardware. This is where the role of Glen Coates becomes important.
Why is Glen Coates’ role important?
Glenn Coates clearly stated in a conversation with TechCrunch that in the coming few years, OpenAI wants to make ChatGPIT a platform where:
- separate app for writing
- separate app for coding
- Separate app to connect with products and services
- Everything should be available within ChatGPT only.
big step at the right time
This move by OpenAI has come at a time when the company has strong data center infrastructure. There are partnerships with big apps like Adobe, Canva, Zillow. Work is going on on an AI device in collaboration with Jony Ive, whose possible launch timeline is said to be 2027. If OpenAI combines all this with ChatGPT’s conversational interface, it could become the world’s first AI-powered operating system.
At present, OpenAI has not given any clear timeline as to when ChatGPT will become OS-like. But it is clear that the company wants to change not just a chatbot but the entire way of computing through AI. If this vision is successful, then in the future we may be seen working directly with an AI OS like ChatGPT, not through apps.
