--- title: "Press Command" subtitle: "Why chatbots are going beyond being platforms, despite what many say" author: "Lorenzo Ancona" date: 2025-10-22 language: en words: 1116 canonical: https://artifactstech.substack.com/p/press-command license: CC BY 4.0 cite_as: "Press Command by Lorenzo Ancona, Artifacts, 2025-10-22. https://artifactstech.substack.com/p/press-command (CC BY 4.0)" --- # Press Command Over the past few days, many have claimed that AI companies are doing with chatbots what Apple did with the iPhone in 2008: turning their product into a platform where users go to access apps. **It’s a fair comparison, but also a partial and shortsighted one.** We’re witnessing something broader. *Let’s see how.* **I’ve argued that chatbots often miss the mark:** you have to start from scratch, paste text and images, and constantly feed them context. That’s why I’ve been (and still am) fascinated by AI-powered browsers - like [the one OpenAI just launched](https://openai.com/index/introducing-chatgpt-atlas/) - where AI lives in your tabs, next to you. **A joystick for the Internet.** [![Out of context](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!2Gh4!,w_140,h_140,c_fill,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep,g_auto/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F98ceaca6-72b1-47a1-b298-046b88d38f60_1536x1024.png)](https://artifactstech.substack.com/p/out-of-context) #### Out of context [Lorenzo Ancona](https://substack.com/profile/142944754-lorenzo-ancona)·29 July 2025[Read full story](https://artifactstech.substack.com/p/out-of-context) **But we may be going beyond this already.** A few days ago, OpenAI announced [apps for ChatGPT:](https://openai.com/index/introducing-apps-in-chatgpt/) [\[Embedded media — view original\]](https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/2C4Cs6503gw?rel=0&autoplay=0&showinfo=0&enablejsapi=0) From the chat, you can now, for instance: - Book a hotel on **Booking** - Get a personalised playlist on **Spotify** - Turn your idea into slides with **Canva** - *and many more to come* Anthropic, meanwhile, launched **[“Skills,”](https://www.theverge.com/ai-artificial-intelligence/800868/anthropic-claude-skills-ai-agents#comments)** which can, for instance, generate marketing materials consistent with your brand without you repeating yourself. And, a year ago, they introduced the **Model Context Protocol (MCP)**, a standard that lets chatbots interface with apps. I even used it to rebuild Artifacts’ database by telling Cursor how to reorganize my Notion! ------------------------------------------------------------------------ So yes, the direction charted by many *seems* clear: **chatbots are shifting from being endpoints of conversations with users to platforms mediating interactions with other users,** who are renting rooms on Booking, or uploading music on Spotify, or offering courses on Coursera. [![](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!IURq!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F97bc7d60-3a49-4de5-a618-190410dd7f69_2500x800.png)](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!IURq!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F97bc7d60-3a49-4de5-a618-190410dd7f69_2500x800.png) how the shift is portrayed **Still, that’s not the full story.** What we’re witnessing goes beyond and is **a new layer of Internet use.** **Yes, the “platform” analogy works economically** - chatbots fit the [OECD’s definition](https://www.oecd.org/content/dam/oecd/en/publications/reports/2019/05/an-introduction-to-online-platforms-and-their-role-in-the-digital-transformation_970fc377/53e5f593-en.pdf) of platforms as *“digital services that facilitate interactions between two or more distinct but interdependent sets of users who interact through the service via the Internet”.* But they aim to be much more than just **gatekeepers or intermediaries with other users or services,** as many claimed these days. Indeed, from a technical perspective, **they want to give a new way to use the Internet:** - **they’re not replacing (all) existing platforms** but rather using these, like Spotify or Booking - **by concentrating the access points into one single place**: **a chat,** which is notably easier to use than finding specific intermediaries, - **so the chatbot is more than a platform:** **it’s a new layer of the Internet** - dependent on existing platforms, but promising to make them easier and more natural to ***use***, **not just access.** The model looks more like this: [![](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!Ddcf!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fa215a5ab-5457-4a01-a686-67188f4fa9dd_1920x901.png)](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!Ddcf!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fa215a5ab-5457-4a01-a686-67188f4fa9dd_1920x901.png) with services being used by AI Where, yes, acting as the bridge between ends is the key but **it’s more a bridge to other existing bridges** (aka platforms) to which we’re accustomed and where we already have our accounts, preferences, information stored. Think of it less as an access point, more as a command center, even an **[operating system.](https://stratechery.com/2025/openais-windows-play/)** ------------------------------------------------------------------------ This more-than-platforms shift has **some very fascinating implications** from different angles: **Technologically**, **the model is the product.** Great platforms have always been [great products first](https://www5.qa.hbr.org/2016/04/products-to-platforms-making-the-leap) - and here, **the product is intelligence itself.** The AI model translates your words into actions, pressing the buttons of other services for you. Complexity is hidden away; apps become silent tools working behind the curtain. Therefore, ***from a design perspective,*** **interfaces either shrink or vanish**. Your new interface is a text box, with no time spent on getting how it works and **with the best interaction medium: plain words.** No need to figure out how a playlist is created on an app, you’ll get it back on your clean chat interface. Also, if I may, it’s truly striking ***from an epistemological perspective***. We could now interact with platforms as if they were people - your designer, your music geek, your travel agent - to whom we talk. **Economically, though, things get tricky.** If chatbots centralise Internet use while drawing data and services from elsewhere, **who gets paid? And how?** **The problem echoes AI search:** chatbots depend on external services for information as much as (if not more than) the services depend on chatbots for distribution. *How is Booking compensated when ChatGPT handles the booking? And how will OpenAI decide which platforms to privilege?* This points to a deeper tension: **the “new layer” of chatbots still rests entirely on old stacks.** ChatGPT wants to be *the* place where users are - controlling distribution and nudging developers to build for this new gravity point. [![](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!61X_!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F330d2523-e772-4e51-bcab-e70a8acc747c_1024x1024.png)](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!61X_!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F330d2523-e772-4e51-bcab-e70a8acc747c_1024x1024.png) But for all the elegance of booking a hotel or designing slides from a chat window, **ChatGPT still relies on other people’s infrastructure:** APIs, tokens, accounts, and services owned elsewhere. In other words, the minute Booking.com (or others!) shut their doors or block access, this new operating system loses its function. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ And that raises the final question: **if chatbots become not just intermediaries but the very** ***way*** **we use other services, what will those services look like next?** *Will they still be built and designed for humans clicking buttons - **or for AIs clicking them on our behalf?*** Fascinating times, way beyond platforms ;) [Leave a comment](https://artifactstech.substack.com/p/press-command/comments) > ### Save for Later TikTok seems to be [dangerous](https://globalwitness.org/en/campaigns/digital-threats/tiktok-directs-13-year-olds-to-porn/). But the NYT is doing [its own TikTok](https://www.axios.com/2025/10/21/new-york-times-watch-tab-tiktok-nyt-app) [Google & Antitrust:](https://www.wired.com/story/uk-watchdog-targets-google-search-in-competition-crackdown/?bxid=5f43a3c889a7356e7e1b2114&cndid=61968307&hasha=dca445e23e26114858a48ad35040e287&hashc=2107626209cd615da922d357ec59a2f4a769eeec7e75a95e874cf17f98f1a7c1&esrc=MARTECH_ORDERFORM) the story goes on in the UK too. [Everything sucks online](https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2025/10/yes-everything-online-sucks-now-but-it-doesnt-have-to/), it seems. But you can have [hot chats with ChatGPT.](https://www.theverge.com/news/799312/openai-chatgpt-erotica-sam-altman-verified-adults) Although [AI is killing the magic.](https://www.ft.com/content/d003cdfc-aded-4a9d-9a24-e1aff5261cfa) The Browser company on [why browser agents are not worth it.](https://www.linkedin.com/posts/the-browser-company_why-doesnt-dia-use-computer-use-for-everything-activity-7384620000340312065-DqcM/?rcm=ACoAADBGmFQB0rHgggpkCiHG5Dn-B9e4n2G0Y-g) But also friends & great researchers published [why governments should be using agents.](https://www.linkedin.com/posts/the-agentic-state_the-agentic-state-vision-paper-activity-7382033246718439425-qjvA/?rcm=ACoAADBGmFQB0rHgggpkCiHG5Dn-B9e4n2G0Y-g) Tim Berners-Lee Invented the World Wide Web. [Now He Wants to Save It](https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2025/10/06/tim-berners-lee-invented-the-world-wide-web-now-he-wants-to-save-it). > ### **Where next?** [![Mozilla Festival](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!jw71!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F4d29d2ce-2dc7-4038-8394-5255e66b56f0_1920x1080.png "Mozilla Festival")](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!jw71!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F4d29d2ce-2dc7-4038-8394-5255e66b56f0_1920x1080.png) Artifacts will be at **[Mozilla Festival](https://www.mozillafestival.org/en/)** in Barcelona 🇪🇸, **November 7–9**. *Artifacts Community in the city, let’s say hi!* > ### The Bookshelf [![](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!Uuy4!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F6958c061-55b9-4820-b749-f84c9e17e7ba_1080x1080.png)](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!Uuy4!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F6958c061-55b9-4820-b749-f84c9e17e7ba_1080x1080.png) **Speaking of GPT: this book looks at a different “GPT” - General Purpose Technology.** It offers a strong historical perspective on how economic, political, and societal conditions enable technologies to spread across countries and eras. Recommended if you’re into the history of tech, industry, and economics.
📚 **All the books** I’ve read and recommended in Artifacts are [here.](https://airtable.com/appK7fMPX1DMkQYzL/shrRh8TgI7GtmgBxM) > ### Nerding [![](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!WYSz!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F411d7cb0-644d-43e5-96c0-5db062ff1115_1080x1080.png)](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!WYSz!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F411d7cb0-644d-43e5-96c0-5db062ff1115_1080x1080.png) The founder of **[Flask](https://flask.do/)** pitches it as “Loom + Notion” for video collaboration. I haven’t fully tested it yet, but it looks promising for creatives working with video. > ### **☕?** If you want to know more about Artifacts, where it all started, or just want to connect... [Let's grab a virtual coffee ☕](https://calendar.google.com/calendar/u/0/appointments/schedules/AcZssZ2ibxlzyU7rgnuoTgqXb_DFc19dfHmJeu1OAu17IY0_oHrtcJtvtctAJnMabirgZNx5Z5NAPGs0)