ChatGPT created a vegetarian weekly menu and filled a Costco cart with ingredients, linking directly to checkout.
Most Apps Add Friction Rather Than Remove It
Uber inside ChatGPT estimates costs but cannot book ridesβusers must retype addresses on a separate webpage. OpenTable gave error messages on reservation requests.
Users Must Know Magic Incantations
Connecting to apps requires β@uberβ syntax and precise phrasing. βHow do I get an Uber?β fails; users must know the exact commands.
Developers Are There for the Audience
All 12 developers interviewed said they built ChatGPT apps because their users are thereβ800 million of them.
The Tollbooth Economics Are Real
Instacart pays OpenAI a transaction fee based on basket value at checkout.
Real-World Examples
AppleCostcoGoogleInstacartUberOpenai
Key Insight
Instacart Works SeamlesslyβBy Exception Most Apps Add Friction Rather Than Remove It Users Must Know Magic Incantations Developers Are There for the Audience The Tollbooth Economics Are Real Instacart Works SeamlesslyβBy Exception ChatGPT created a vegetarian weekly menu and filled a Costco cart with ingredients, linking directly to checkout.
Exec Package + Claude OS Master Skill | Business Engineer Founding Plan
FourWeekMBA x Business Engineer | Updated 2026
Sam Altman says Apple, not Google, is OpenAI’s real competitor. ChatGPT is morphing into an operating system, and OpenAI is designing devices with Jony Ive to replace the iPhone. The vision: users complete tasks through chatbots instead of smartphone apps, threatening Apple’s walled garden.
The reality: Journal tests show occasional wow moments surrounded by dysfunction. Traditional apps remain too capable to replace quickly.
ChatGPT created a vegetarian weekly menu and filled a Costco cart with ingredients, linking directly to checkout. The success required three months of joint development, shared offices, and a former Instacart CEO (now OpenAI executive) breaking a development logjam.
This level of integration isn’t scalable across the app ecosystem.
Most Apps Add Friction Rather Than Remove It
Uber inside ChatGPT estimates costs but cannot book ridesβusers must retype addresses on a separate webpage. OpenTable gave error messages on reservation requests. Tripadvisor showed maps for 30 seconds before failing. “Tripadvisor is being a little useless,” ChatGPT admitted.
Users Must Know Magic Incantations
Connecting to apps requires “@uber” syntax and precise phrasing. “How do I get an Uber?” fails; users must know the exact commands. This defeats the purpose of natural language interface β as explored in the interface layer wars reshaping consumer tech β s.
Developers Are There for the Audience
All 12 developers interviewed said they built ChatGPT apps because their users are thereβ800 million of them. But apps are designed to steer users back to more capable smartphone apps or websites.
The Tollbooth Economics Are Real
Instacart pays OpenAI a transaction fee based on basket value at checkout. Whoever provides the gateway to online services owns valuable real estateβtoday that is Apple with its App Store fees at 30% versus OpenAI’s emerging 10-15%.
ChatGPT’s app ecosystem resembles the early App Store: primitive, inconsistent, occasionally magical. Apple’s iPhone apps took years to mature into indispensable tools. OpenAI’s 800 million users give it leverage to build the platformβthe question is whether developers will invest in building for it.
What is Sam Altman Says Apple Is OpenAI's Real Competitor: The Platform War for the Post-App Era?
Sam Altman says Apple, not Google, is OpenAIβs real competitor. ChatGPT is morphing into an operating system, and OpenAI is designing devices with Jony Ive to replace the iPhone. The vision: users complete tasks through chatbots instead of smartphone apps, threatening Appleβs walled garden.
What is Instacart Works SeamlesslyβBy Exception?
ChatGPT created a vegetarian weekly menu and filled a Costco cart with ingredients, linking directly to checkout. The success required three months of joint development, shared offices, and a former Instacart CEO (now OpenAI executive) breaking a development logjam.
What is Most Apps Add Friction Rather Than Remove It?
Uber inside ChatGPT estimates costs but cannot book ridesβusers must retype addresses on a separate webpage. OpenTable gave error messages on reservation requests. Tripadvisor showed maps for 30 seconds before failing. βTripadvisor is being a little useless,β ChatGPT admitted.
What are the users must know magic incantations?
Connecting to apps requires β@uberβ syntax and precise phrasing. βHow do I get an Uber?β fails; users must know the exact commands. This defeats the purpose of natural language interfaces.
What are the developers are there for the audience?
All 12 developers interviewed said they built ChatGPT apps because their users are thereβ800 million of them. But apps are designed to steer users back to more capable smartphone apps or websites.
What is the tollbooth economics are real?
Instacart pays OpenAI a transaction fee based on basket value at checkout. Whoever provides the gateway to online services owns valuable real estateβtoday that is Apple with its App Store fees at 30% versus OpenAIβs emerging 10-15%.
Gennaro Cuofano is a CRO and tech executive who has worked in AI since late 2015, starting with bringing NLP, natural-language generation, voice and chatbot products to the marketing industry. His background is in law and finance: he holds a Master's degree in Law and an International MBA with an emphasis on corporate finance (LUISS Business School and the University of San Diego, 2012), and worked as a financial analyst at a real-estate investment firm in San Diego and as an assistant controller. His work focuses on business model strategy, business engineering and, more broadly, structural analysis: how companies make money, read from their own filings. He created FourWeekMBA and leads research there and at The Business Engineer, his newsletter on AI and business strategy, with over 95,000 subscribers and more than 1,000 published analyses. His writing has also appeared on Entrepreneur, HackerNoon and Search Engine People. Find him on LinkedIn and Substack. See how we source.
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