Re:OpenAI could be making a phone with AI agents replacing apps
by tikotus on Monday April 27, 2026 @11:12AM
(#47922710)
I find this very hard to believe. I haven't seen many good AI integrations, and my understanding is that at least Microsoft is now backtracking with them. Going in the opposite direction of adding more of them, even replacing apps with them, doesn't sound like a thing that has proven demand.
How would that even work? What would it replace? Surely not TikTok or games. Email? Chats? Sports apps? Safari?
Am I missing something, is this a serious headline?
Re:OpenAI could be making a phone with AI agents replacing apps
by bradchris on Monday April 27, 2026 @11:11AM
(#47922693)
> Nothing CEO Carl Pei said at SXSW that apps will eventually go away.
Apps will not ever entirely go away because brands will not ever go away, which is what most popular apps are. Not ads, but brands: if someone were to exactly replicate Coca-Cola, it would not existentially replace Coca-Cola— people drink it not just for the taste but because they like the brand. In the same way we all have that one neighborhood restaurant we trust, we trust a brand.
Re:OpenAI could be making a phone with AI agents replacing apps
by aurareturn on Monday April 27, 2026 @11:26AM
(#47922902)
I think shopping can be done via chat.
For the rest, they can still exist as apps inside this OpenAI smart phone but the OS layer will "see" everything and be able to ingest everything you do into a context. Next time you want to do something or ask for something, the AI knows a lot more about you.
Being just another app on iOS, it's impossible for OpenAI to do the above.
Re:OpenAI could be making a phone with AI agents replacing apps
by marstall on Monday April 27, 2026 @11:58AM
(#47923313)
> the OS layer will "see" everything and be able to ingest everything you do into a context
that makes sense, i could see it being useful. though it would be a feature easily replicated by Apple or Android if it got some traction.
Maybe this idea of apps being "replaced by agents" is less literal than I'm thinking.
Like with music, maybe it could be an agent that in general helps me be a cooler, more informed music listener by constantly thinking about new ways of accessing myriad sources of info about what's cool, or what I would think would be cool.
Re:OpenAI could be making a phone with AI agents replacing apps
by aurareturn on Monday April 27, 2026 @12:36PM
(#47923845)
that makes sense, i could see it being useful. though it would be a feature easily replicated by Apple or Android if it got some traction.
There is no doubt in my mind that Apple and Google are going this way. They may have a huge advantage over OpenAI. But OpenAI can't breakthrough without making their own phone so they have to try.
Re:OpenAI could be making a phone with AI agents replacing apps
by aurareturn on Monday April 27, 2026 @10:51AM
(#47922393)
This is the big threat to Apple.
People say Apple is winning in AI without doing anything. I disagree. Apple is opening themselves up to an existential threat by not having SOTA models.
How would that even work? What would it replace? Surely not TikTok or games. Email? Chats? Sports apps? Safari?
Am I missing something, is this a serious headline?
Apps will not ever entirely go away because brands will not ever go away, which is what most popular apps are. Not ads, but brands: if someone were to exactly replicate Coca-Cola, it would not existentially replace Coca-Cola— people drink it not just for the taste but because they like the brand. In the same way we all have that one neighborhood restaurant we trust, we trust a brand.
- Spotify
- Le Monde (french news)
- Maps
- Find My
- Amazon
Anyone have a take on how these (maybe not precisely) could be "replaced by an AI agent"?
LLM hallucinated news (in French) slop!
There's two down, now someone give me a billion dollars in start-up funding please so I can tackle the others.
For the rest, they can still exist as apps inside this OpenAI smart phone but the OS layer will "see" everything and be able to ingest everything you do into a context. Next time you want to do something or ask for something, the AI knows a lot more about you.
Being just another app on iOS, it's impossible for OpenAI to do the above.
that makes sense, i could see it being useful. though it would be a feature easily replicated by Apple or Android if it got some traction.
Maybe this idea of apps being "replaced by agents" is less literal than I'm thinking.
Like with music, maybe it could be an agent that in general helps me be a cooler, more informed music listener by constantly thinking about new ways of accessing myriad sources of info about what's cool, or what I would think would be cool.
People say Apple is winning in AI without doing anything. I disagree. Apple is opening themselves up to an existential threat by not having SOTA models.