ChatGPT launches New Apps – But EU Users, Including Norwegians, Left Waiting
San Francisco, CA – OpenAI today unveiled a new generation of interactive apps directly within ChatGPT, empowering developers to build adn deploy custom experiences. However, the rollout excludes users in the European union, leaving Norwegians among those unable to access the new functionality – at least for now.
The new “apps” are built using OpenAI’s newly released apps SDK (currently in preview) and allow for a more dynamic ChatGPT experiance, moving beyond simple text-based interactions. OpenAI envisions users being able to, for example, request song suggestions from ChatGPT and then directly instruct Spotify to create a playlist – all within the same chat interface. While developers can begin building with the SDK, the apps themselves won’t be broadly available until later this year.
Currently, pilot customers including Spotify, Booking.com, Canva, Coursera, Figma, Expedia, and Zillow are showcasing the potential of the new platform. OpenAI states the apps require only a ChatGPT login, regardless of subscription level, but confirms a phased rollout, with the EU region initially excluded. The company has not clarified whether Norway is specifically included in this restriction, but testing by Kode24 confirms the apps are inaccessible to Norwegian users as of Tuesday morning.
The Apps SDK is based on the open standard Model context Protocol (MCP) and is designed to support a range of app types, from simple in-chat cards to full-screen applications. OpenAI also plans to integrate payment functionality through new protocols. The company emphasizes a collaborative approach, seeking developer feedback to refine the platform and introduce more tools in the coming months.
