IPO sprint key bet! OpenAI launches ChatGPT's largest revision in history, transitioning from a chat tool to a comprehensive AI platform.

According to reports, OpenAI is preparing for the most significant overhaul of ChatGPT since its establishment in 2022 and the explosion of the generative artificial intelligence trend. The company plans to find new sources of income before its IPO. The report cited current and former employees, as well as company executives at OpenAI, who stated that the San Francisco-based company plans to transition ChatGPT from a conversational assistant to a comprehensive platform that integrates coding tools, AI agents, and third-party applications. It is expected that these adjustments will be gradually rolled out through updates to the ChatGPT web and mobile applications in the coming weeks. This overhaul will focus more on coding capabilities, image generation functions, and software services provided by external partners. The shift reflects a broader strategic adjustment within OpenAI - the company is increasing its investment in high-revenue products and enterprise customers, while engaging in more direct competition with competitors like Anthropic. For investors, this overhaul highlights OpenAI's efforts to demonstrate sustainable revenue growth potential and profitability before the expected IPO. Although ChatGPT has attracted nearly one billion users, the majority are free users. OpenAI is increasingly betting that paid products such as coding tools, AI agents, and enterprise software will contribute a larger proportion of revenue, supporting its high estimated valuation of around $85 billion in the private market. OpenAI executives see ChatGPT as an entry point to promote higher-profit services to users. The company believes that AI agents capable of performing tasks such as schedule management, booking trips, or completing work tasks on behalf of users will ultimately be more valuable than traditional chatbots primarily used to answer questions. Personal AI Assistant OpenAI has reportedly restructured several product departments under a single management structure led by Thibault Sottiaux - who previously led the company's Codex coding product. He stated that OpenAI's long-term goal is to build a personal AI assistant that can support users' work and personal activities through mobile devices, computers, and other connected platforms. OpenAI's Codex software, which can generate code and build applications based on user commands, has become an increasingly important focus for the company. Since its desktop version was launched in February of this year, the weekly active user count for Codex has grown sixfold, exceeding 5 million. The majority of Codex users are paying customers, with approximately 2 million businesses currently using OpenAI's products. Enterprise customers contribute around 40% of the company's revenue, and OpenAI plans to increase this proportion to approximately 50% by the end of the year. OpenAI's strategy appears to be aligning with Anthropic - whose development model focused on enterprise customers has led to rapid growth. Jenny Xiao, partner at Leonis Capital and former OpenAI researcher, stated that OpenAI's strategic focus has shifted from long-term technical vision to revenue growth, similar to Anthropic's direction, as both companies prepare to attract public market investors. As part of this transition, OpenAI is redesigning the interface of ChatGPT to encourage users to use coding tools, image generation products, and applications developed by partners such as Canva and Booking.com. The company has also reduced the priority of some consumer-facing projects. A payment feature that could be used within ChatGPT to make purchases has been put on hold, and the Sora video generation product was shut down within less than a year of its launch. OpenAI executives increasingly believe that users will ultimately rely on a single AI assistant rather than multiple standalone software applications. Alex Embiricos, OpenAI's Head of Enterprise Products, stated that the development of general artificial intelligence may eventually blur the boundaries between chatbots, search engines, coding tools, and other categories of software. OpenAI has not yet issued a public statement regarding the overhaul plans outlined in this report. Earlier reports stated that CEO Sam Altman privately expressed a desire to complete the IPO as early as the fourth quarter of this year, while CFO Sarah Friar had previously expressed a contrasting view, believing that the company was not yet ready for an IPO.