OpenAI's metamorphosis from chat app to tech giant

The big picture: OpenAI doesn't just want ChatGPT to be the everything app. It wants to be the everything company and knock all of its competitors aside.

1. It's a web browser

OpenAI's new browser is another swipe at Google, which has struggled to keep pace since ChatGPT's debut.

• Atlas is essentially an insertion of the world's most popular chatbot into a browser experience.
• The move positions the company against other AI-fueled rivals with browsers like Perplexity's Comet, Apple's Safari and Microsoft's Edge.

The intrigue: Both Google Chrome and Microsoft Edge already integrate their chatbots with the browser.

• It remains to be seen whether browsing with a chatbot is a killer use case.
• If it becomes one, ChatGPT's popularity could lure Chrome and Edge devotees to Atlas.

2. It's a social media network

OpenAI's Sora not only upended reality on the web, it also became the first real competitor to Meta's social media dominance since TikTok.

• The invite-only app rocketed to — and stayed at — the top of Apple's download charts.
• OpenAI CEO Sam Altman promised to include features that would keep users from infinitely scrolling until their brain rotted, but the app's already got early adopters hooked.

3. It's a platform

At OpenAI's developer day in early October, the company gave developers a way to offer their apps directly within ChatGPT, so users could summon Spotify, Zillow, Figma, Canva and others directly from the chatbot.

• Developers can already submit their own apps, with monetization coming soon, putting OpenAI in direct competition with Apple's and Google's app stores.

4. It's a shopping experience

OpenAI has also partnered with the world's biggest retailer (Walmart) to compete with the world's biggest online retailer (Amazon).

• ChatGPT users can buy products straight from Walmart through its new Instant Checkout program.
• The company also made deals with Etsy and over a million Shopify merchants for shopping through chat.

5. It's (trying to be) the next Apple

Reports of OpenAI's hardware partnership with former Apple designer Jony Ive have been percolating for over a year.

• The company paid $5 billion in stock for Ive's startup in May, including the acquisition of Ive and three other veteran Apple designers.
• OpenAI's poaching continued with recruits from Apple's design, manufacturing and supply chain teams. In September, OpenAI began talks with Apple's third-party suppliers themselves.
• The company is reportedly working on a smart speaker without a display, smart glasses, a digital voice recorder and a wearable pin, targeted for a late 2026 or early 2027 release, according to a report from The Information.

What we're watching: OpenAI's land grab could invite the same kind of antitrust nightmares that have dogged Microsoft and Google.

• The company's growing control over models, distribution platforms and hardware will likely make it harder for rivals and startups to compete on fair terms.
• There's also the small matter of cost — all these ventures are expensive, and OpenAI's already on the hook to spend $1 trillion over the next five years, against about $13 billion in annual revenue.

Yes, but: So far, the Trump administration's tech regulators have leaned into the "make America competitive again" mantra and leaned away from curbing any AI efforts at all.

The bottom line: Expect to see ChatGPT in more facets of your life sooner than later.