How OpenAI uses ChatGPT Sites (live at DevDay!) | Kath Korevec (Product Lead) · How I AI summary

Key takeaways

ChatGPT Sites enables users to embed and connect external plugins into their own sites, displaying only their personalized data.
Kath emphasizes that Sites can be built rapidly with Codex, which automates wiring up plugins and connectors based on natural language prompts.
Different users see different data in shared sites based on their team or personal context, broadening the scope for sensitive data handling.
Supported connectors like Slack, Notion, and Google Calendar make Sites suitable for diverse workflows, from incident management to personal planning.
Creative projects like music curation and game development can be quickly prototyped and shared on Sites, fostering community and experimentation.
Model speed directly impacts the level of creativity possible; faster models facilitate rapid innovation in interactive experiences.
Future developments include integrating real-time ChatGPT inference into Sites, making AI an active part of creative and collaborative workflows.
OpenAI's approach democratizes content creation by enabling non-technical users to build and share personalized, complex applications.

Summary

Introduction to ChatGPT Sites and Its Launch at DevDay

The episode begins with an overview of ChatGPT Sites, a feature that allows users to embed connected plugins into their own sites, showing only their data. The host discusses how this enables team-specific views without managing API keys—highlighting its flexibility for various use cases, like customizing data views for a trip or project. Kath, the guest and product lead for Sites at OpenAI, describes the rapid internal adoption of Sites, including its use for presentation slides and incident management tools, which integrate with external data sources like Notion and Slack.

Using Plugins and Sites for Internal and Personal Projects

Kath explains how Sites recently launched a new plugin and connection system, allowing anyone to connect external data sources such as Notion, Slack, and Google Calendar. When users log into a site, they approve connections, and the site then customizes content based on their team or personal context. She illustrates this with her own incident command site that tracks ongoing incidents, pulling team activities, tools, and runbooks dynamically. Kath emphasizes how Sites can be used for various purposes—from managing team incidents to personal organization like trip planning or music curation, often building temporary sites that are discarded after use.

Technical Foundations and Infrastructure Capabilities of Sites

Kath dives into the underlying infrastructure of Sites, explaining how it inherits connectors and handles real-time data integration—no need for manual API handling. She mentions how Codex assists in building these sites by understanding user prompts and automating the wiring of connectors, making it easy to customize data sources. When sharing sites across teams, different data views are inherited based on user roles, making it useful for sensitive data handling in finance or data teams. She highlights supported connectors like Slack, Notion, and Google Calendar, and discusses the flexibility to build micro-apps or internal tools, with deep functionality like hosting data and executing evaluations.

Creative and Personal Use Cases: Music, Games, and Fun Projects

The conversation shifts to creative ways of using Sites, such as fixing a chaotic Spotify playlist by aggregating trending music from Reddit and user preferences, or building custom, interactive games. Kath demonstrates a dungeon crawler game built on Sites, which allows users to create and share rooms, customize characters, and interact with AI-generated content. She emphasizes that model speed influences creativity, with faster models enabling rapid prototyping of immersive experiences. The use of inference, like integrating ChatGPT prompts into gameplay and design parameters, is seen as a new frontier for fun, collaborative projects that blend AI with personal storytelling.

Future Possibilities and Community Collab in Site Building

Kath envisions a future where Site-based applications become more interactive and community-driven, with users sharing their creations on curated galleries like 'Awesome Sites.' She discusses potential for real-time inference integration within sites, enabling users—including children—to modify games or content dynamically using ChatGPT. She comments on the importance of supporting rapid iteration and deployment, whether locally or via cloud, and sees the growing creative potential as making AI more accessible for design, gaming, and other expressive endeavors. The episode concludes with a reflection on how these tools have democratized content creation and the importance of managing AI's ethical boundaries.

Show notes

Kath Korevec is a member of the Product staff at OpenAI working on Codex, and she spent over a year building and using ChatGPT Sites internally before its public launch. She’s been on the front lines of shipping Plugin Insights, MCP plugin hosting, and the connector ecosystem, which now includes around 60 integrations.

What you’ll learn:

What Plugin Insights actually does, and why it changes who can use a site
The incident command site Kath built for her OpenAI team, and how it uses live Slack and Notion connectors
The one phrase that tells Codex to wire up connectors for you
The infrastructure layer inside Sites that most people haven’t touched yet
How Kath fixed her Spotify after her kids wrecked it, using Reddit and computer use
The skill distribution model behind her community dungeon crawler, and why it’s a new way to think about collaboration
Why model speed is what actually determines how creative you get
Where Kath draws a hard line on AI acting in her name

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Brought to you by:

Merge—Connective infrastructure for production AI

Vanta—Automate compliance and simplify security

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In this episode, we cover:

(00:00) Welcome and intro

(01:00) Sites: internal testing and use cases

(05:53) Sites infrastructure

(09:00) Kath’s favorite connectors

(11:10) Unique ways to use Sites

(12:28) Curating a custom Spotify playlist