AI & I · 2 min · Sep 30, 2026

Subscription portability removes friction for trying AI apps

Sam Altman · CEO, OpenAI

Sam Altman wants his ChatGPT subscription to work in third-party apps instead of requiring another signup.

In this episode

8:46 Dot protects Altman’s mornings and helps him build8 min
26:34 AI changes how much a small startup team can build3 min
29:51 Fast AI makes iteration feel fundamentally differentPro pick 3 min
16:50 Live documents can keep a business dashboard current3 min
3:29 OpenAI is betting on a wave of small-team companies3 min
22:11Subscription portability removes friction for trying AI apps2 min

Up next · Silicon Valley GirlThe money in AI is in data and applications, not models2:35

“I hate having to sign up for 100 subscriptions. And also, when I try something, I'm like, hey, I'd like to be able to use this with full juice AI.”

Sam Altmanat 23:48 · AI & I

Takeaways

Users can take their subscription into apps they want to try.
It reduces the need for a separate AI subscription for each app.
App makers can avoid limiting model use to manage inference costs.

About this segment

Sam Altman wants his ChatGPT subscription to work in third-party apps instead of requiring another signup. That can let app makers avoid rationing AI usage or downgrading models to control costs.

Sam Altman is CEO of OpenAI.

Co-founded OpenAI and has led it since 2019, overseeing ChatGPT's launch; formerly president of Y Combinator.

Dan Shipper, Host · Co-founder & CEO, Every
Sold his first startup, Firefly, to Pegasystems; writes Every's Chain of Thought.

From “How Sam Altman Actually Uses Dots to Run OpenAI and His Life”, Sep 30, 2026. Watch the full episode

Transcript

From the transcript AI & I publishes with the episode.

22:24
So I've been in your ear a lot about Codex Native apps for a little while now. DAN GALPINIUSSKI- You finally did it. I'm psyched. So plug-in extensions. Yeah, and also being able to bring your tokens from your ChatDBT subscription to an app developer, it changes the equation for someone like me where normally you're thinking about, okay, how much AI can I let my users use so that it doesn't bankrupt me?
22:48
And then you're like, should I use lower-priced models and then the experience is worse? But if someone can bring their subscription, I'm like, great, you can use whatever model you want under your subscription. What are you most excited about for the kinds of applications and products that can be built at the application layer in this new world? I mean, I'm most excited for the ones that we haven't thought of.
23:06
Like, there's many reasons that we wanted to do this. But one of the biggest is, and why we do this Big Dev Day thing, is just this very deep belief that there are way more good ideas outside of our building than inside. And I don't know what I'm going to love the most as like a ChatGPT native app, a plugin extension, but I am very confident that there will be things that I really do love that I cannot imagine today.
23:33
And that no one at OpenAI really could imagine with conviction today. And that's why, I mean, that's one of the reasons why this is so important to do. Like we want to find a way to get that creative spirit into people's hands and we want to find a way to help. builders connect with people who are going to find the technology useful. In terms of bringing your ChatGPT subscription with you everywhere, we just want that ourselves.
23:55
There's all this great stuff that people are building. There's all these new apps. We want to try them. And I hate having to sign up for 100 subscriptions. And also, when I try something, I'm like, hey, I'd like to be able to use this with full juice AI. So we want to make it just super easy for people to take it with them. And it's your subscription. Like, you should get to use wherever you want.
24:18
Do you think anyone at the app layer is doing this well today? Like building interesting apps?