[DigitalToday reporter Chi-gyu Hwang] OpenAI will integrate the ChatGPT app, the Codex coding platform and the Atlas browser into a single desktop "super app". The Wall Street Journal reported on March 19 that the strategy is aimed at simplifying user experience and stepping up efforts to target enterprise and developer customers.

The changes are being led by head of applications Fidji Simo.

OpenAI's move marks a completely different direction from last year. OpenAI rolled out several products separately last year, but user response fell short of expectations and concerns emerged internally about a loss of focus.

The WSJ reported that executives judged that bundling products into a single app would allow resources to be allocated more efficiently and help keep rival Anthropic in check.

In an internal memo sent to employees, Simo said, "We spread our capabilities across too many apps and tech stacks, and realized we need focus." She said that the dispersion slowed things down and made it harder to reach the level of quality the company wanted.

The core feature OpenAI is highlighting in the super app is "agent" AI.

Key executives including CEO Sam Altman (샘 알트먼), chief research officer Mark Chen (마크 첸) and Simo have reviewed OpenAI's product portfolio in recent weeks. In a companywide meeting last week, Simo stressed to employees that there was no room to be distracted by additional projects as Anthropic rapidly absorbs enterprise and coding customers.

An OpenAI spokesperson said closer collaboration among internal teams on the super app will increase, and the research division will also be able to focus its capabilities on improving a single core product.

OpenAI plans to add new agent features to the Codex app in the coming months to expand support beyond coding to a range of productivity tasks, and then sequentially integrate ChatGPT and the Atlas browser into the super app. The mobile ChatGPT app will keep its current approach.

In the memo, Simo said it is "an opportunity to combine the most powerful consumer AI app and brand with the most powerful agent app," and that it will use consumer scale to make agent features available to everyone.