OpenAI announced today that it’s rolling out support for plugins in ChatGPT. This will allow the chatbot to connect to third-party applications, which is something that many developers have been asking for.

Plugins for ChatGPT are currently available in limited alpha, and developers can join a waitlist to get access. For now, OpenAI will only allow a small number of developers and ChatGPT Plus subscribers to build a plugin for the chatbot, but the company plans to open up access as it evolves the system to meet the developers’ needs.

“In the coming months, as we learn from deployment and continue to improve our safety systems, we’ll iterate on this protocol, and we plan to enable developers using OpenAI models to integrate plugins into their own applications beyond ChatGPT,” the company said today.

We are adding support for plugins to ChatGPT — extensions which integrate it with third-party services or allow it to access up-to-date information. We’re starting small to study real-world use, impact, and safety and alignment challenges: https://t.co/A9epaBBBzx pic.twitter.com/KS5jcFoNhf

— OpenAI (@OpenAI) March 23, 2023

As of today, ChatGPT plugins can retrieve real-time information from other services and perform actions for users such as ordering food or booking a flight. OpenAI announced 12 plugins from third-party platforms today including Expedia, Kayak, Instacart, Shopify, Opentable, Slack, and Zapier.

These existing plugins will be enabled first for ChatGPT Plus subscribers. OpenAI also created two plugins for a web browser and code interpreter, and the company is also open-sourcing the code for a knowledgebase retrieval plugin. If the company will be testing the waters during this alpha period, OpenAI is pushing for a community-based approach regarding the development of plugins connecting AI chatbots with third-party applications.

“We expect that open standards will emerge to unify the ways in which applications expose an AI-facing interface. We are working on an early attempt at what such a standard might look like, and we’re looking for feedback from developers interested in building with us,” the company said today.