ChatGPT is one step closer to knowing everything about you

TL;DR: ChatGPT’s new app store lets you connect to third-party apps like DoorDash, so you can talk to them directly in chats. It makes the chatbot more useful—but also comes with a host of privacy concerns, as it hands ChatGPT (and the apps you connect) even more of your data.

What happened: ChatGPT wants to be the central hub where you check off everything on your to-do list: work projects, grocery shopping, curating playlists, booking travel—even doing your taxes. This week, it rolled out a new app store that lets users connect services like Instacart, Spotify, DoorDash, Zillow, OpenTable, and more to the chatbot. App integrations already existed in ChatGPT, but the offerings have now been expanded, and a centralized directory makes discovery even easier, while giving OpenAI a simpler portal for developers to submit their apps.

What does this mean for you?: The benefit is that instead of having apps open separately, you can do it all in ChatGPT using natural-language commands. With the Instacart app, for example, you can ask for a 30-minute one-pot dinner recipe, tell it to find all ingredients at your go-to grocery store, and even place your order right in the chat—no hunting through menus. Sounds convenient, right?

What’s the catch?: Say it with us—privacy. red. flags. OpenAI says ChatGPT can use information from the apps to train its models unless you’ve turned this feature off. The apps in turn can access "relevant context" from your ChatGPT conversations and also your Memories—potentially giving them info you’ve mentioned to ChatGPT before, from your line of work to your music taste. The more services you allow access to, the more entry points there are for potential hackers. OpenAI explicitly warns that connecting apps can introduce risk, including attackers trying to use ChatGPT to get to your data.

There’s also your own personal data hygiene to consider. It’s one thing to ask the chatbot to summarize a dense article, and another to give it a trove of details about yourself, from how many 12-packs of Diet Coke you order every week to sensitive tax information.

One more thing: ChatGPT is OpenAI's biggest source of revenue, and the company is actively searching for more ways to monetize—including, possibly, serving ads in chat. But recent reporting suggests ChatGPT’s user growth is slowing, with Google’s Gemini now outpacing it. An embedded app store is one way for OpenAI to get you to stay. —WK