OpenAI expands ChatGPT’s plug-ins with app-like interfaces and automations

TechCrunch reports OpenAI is letting developers build app-like experiences inside ChatGPT via plug-in extensions — a dedicated sidebar home, interactive panels while chatting, and file viewers for product-specific formats. Existing plug-ins already hit Slack, SharePoint, Airtable, and Drive; the new layer aims at any app that works better inside the chat surface.

Plugin Creator, redesigned directory submission, improved ranking/recommendations, and per-plugin access approvals land alongside ChatGPT Sites hosting plug-ins for colleagues with their own data permissions. MCP Events support would let plug-ins start automations from connected-app events.

We’re watching ChatGPT become a workplace OS one panel at a time.

Useful integration beats yet another standalone SaaS tab. If developers can ship interactive tools beside the model — with clear permission prompts — teams get less context-switching and more accountable automation. MCP Events is the hinge: event-driven agents inside ChatGPT are powerful and easy to get wrong.

I’m watching review quality and ranking integrity. A directory that surfaces the wrong automation at the wrong moment is a security incident waiting for a polite UI. Sites that host plug-ins for coworkers are collaboration gold if identity stays strict.

We’ll take the expansion as pro-builder infrastructure. We’ll also say the quiet risk: every new panel is another place an agent can act with your connected data.

TechCrunch, September 29, 2026 (Sarah Perez), DevDay coverage.