OpenAI launches GPT-6.1 Sol and Dots at DevDay 2026, pushing ChatGPT toward app platform

GPT-6.1 Sol is the first member of OpenAI's 6.1-series to make its public debut, Android Authority reported. OpenAI says the model delivers Astra-like performance at one-fifth the expenditure, comes close to GPT-6 Astra across numerous benchmarks, and outpaces GPT-6 Sol. The company also reported that GPT-6.1 Sol makes fewer factual errors than GPT-6 Sol across similar tests. Although Astra remains the more capable model, OpenAI says Sol is rapidly approaching Astra in "intelligence" and nearly matching the flagship across multiple metrics. Android Authority also reported that Astra was being sent back to the bench for misbehaving.

Dots are always-on personal agents that can keep working across connected apps even when a user is not actively chatting with them, according to Android Authority. A Dot can monitor ongoing work, suggest or complete next steps, and carry context across ChatGPT, Slack, and Microsoft Teams. Each Dot is powered by GPT-6 Astra and gets its own cloud computer and browser, and can connect to more than 4,000 apps through OpenAI's plugin ecosystem. They are presented as colorful, fuzzy characters that users can name. Dots are rolling out gradually to Pro, Business Premium, and Enterprise users in eligible markets; texting is coming soon.

TechCrunch reported that OpenAI is turning ChatGPT itself into a surface for launching apps. The chatbot now has 1.2 billion weekly users, and OpenAI plans to make app suggestions within the flow of conversation when it recognizes that a particular app could help complete a task. Users will then be able to connect the app and begin using it directly inside ChatGPT. The plugin architecture is expanding to support extensions, allowing developers to build interactive panels where users can work with their tools while chatting with ChatGPT. This moves services that users previously accessed through the web or native apps into ChatGPT.

OpenAI also introduced "Sign in with ChatGPT," which lets users bring their ChatGPT identity with them and use their existing AI allowance in third-party apps. TechCrunch reported there are 16 launch partners, including Cognition's Devin, Notion, Vercel, T3, OpenClaw, and Dactyl, with more planned. In a DevDay demo, OpenAI showed a meeting app working inside ChatGPT, displaying upcoming calendar meetings; a user could choose AI to take meeting notes and receive a summary of follow-up items when the meeting ended. In another example, users could work with design-focused apps such as Figma and Adobe on revisions or use features that would otherwise require a standalone app. Apps can be shared with colleagues in lightweight websites that ChatGPT produces, where coworkers can sign in with their own credentials and permissions.

For developers, OpenAI described improvements to plugin review, its equivalent of Apple's App Review process. Developers will be able to track their review, see what needs to be fixed, request a human review, and update their plugin's tools without starting the whole submission over. OpenAI also announced an enterprise app marketplace where partners can market their services. At launch, more than 30 partners are offering apps through the OpenAI Marketplace, including Adobe, Figma, Sierra, Decagon, HubSpot, Salesforce, ServiceNow, Harvey, Legora, Palo Alto Networks, CrowdStrike, and Baseten. Eligible customers can apply part of their OpenAI commitment toward approved partner software, OpenAI said.

TechCrunch reported that OpenAI's embrace of agents is also pushing users toward a model where they do not have to think as much about which app to use. With Dots, agents navigate the web and execute tasks in their own cloud infrastructure. Each Dot has its own cloud computer and browser and can use connected apps. Under the older model, a user who wanted to manage a project, such as building a website or coordinating a meeting calendar, would have to download different apps to a computer or phone. Now, users can tell an AI agent what they want done and the agent will do it, sometimes bringing a needed model or application to the user rather than requiring the user to seek out the tool.