OpenAI is preparing to carry out the biggest overhaul of ChatGPT since the chatbot kicked off the generative artificial intelligence boom in 2022. The goal is not merely to improve it, but to transform it into a full-fledged, multipurpose app capable of handling coding, business tasks, and users’ everyday personal needs, all in one place. According to a report by Financial Times, more than a dozen current and former employees of the company are aware of the plan.
What exactly is in the works? The new version of ChatGPT is expected to significantly strengthen the role of the Codex tool, a programming assistant that has recently gained more than 5 million weekly active users. That is no small number, as the vast majority of them are paying customers. The update will initially appear as changes to the website and mobile apps. Users will see new prompts and features that will naturally guide them toward coding, image generation, or services from partners such as Canva and Booking.com.
Approximately 2 million businesses currently account for around 40% of OpenAI’s revenue. By the end of the year, the company wants to increase this figure to 50%. To achieve this, it is shifting resources and attention toward business customers and direct competition with Anthropic. Today, more than 900 million people use ChatGPT each week, and it has more than 50 million paying consumer subscribers alone. Nevertheless, a large proportion of users still rely on the completely free version. That is precisely what OpenAI wants to change—or, more accurately, it wants to redirect attention toward those who are willing to pay for premium features but have not yet found sufficient motivation to do so.
The entire overhaul is taking place in direct connection with OpenAI’s planned stock market debut. Reuters reported that the company is preparing to file confidentially for a U.S. IPO. Although CEO Sam Altman says the company is not focused on timing and will go public when it makes sense, analysts estimate that a listing could happen as early as September this year. Increasing revenue and becoming more attractive to business customers are exactly what investors want to see before a company goes public.
