ChatGPT gets personal with your money

OpenAI just gave ChatGPT a new trick: letting users link their bank accounts, credit cards, and investments to the chatbot. The goal? To turn vague money questions into precise answers based on real financial data. Launched on May 15 for US Pro subscribers, it’s like plugging your money into a super-smart assistant that tracks spending, spots subscriptions, and even helps plan big purchases like a house. But here’s the catch—do you really want a chatbot with this much access to your financial life? The setup is simple: just open the "Finances" tab or type a command to start linking accounts through Plaid, a tool used by apps like Venmo and Robinhood. Once connected, ChatGPT crunches your transactions and investments, showing things like hidden spending patterns or upcoming bills. You can ask things like, "How much did my summer trip really cost? " or "Can I afford a house by 2029? " The chatbot keeps your full account numbers private and can’t make changes, but it stores data for 30 days unless you disconnect it. OpenAI claims it can’t see your passwords or make transactions—just balances and spending habits. But why now? OpenAI says over 200 million users already ask ChatGPT money-related questions monthly. The new feature upgrades vague advice into personalized plans using its latest reasoning model, GPT-5. 5. The company even partnered with Intuit for future features like tax help or credit score checks. Yet, OpenAI isn’t the only one racing into AI finance. Competitor Perplexity just launched similar tools, just days apart. Both use Plaid to pull financial data, but while Perplexity targets analysts with professional tools, OpenAI focuses on everyday users who already chat with the bot about money.

The bigger picture? OpenAI is quietly building a financial command center inside ChatGPT. Last month, it acquired a fintech startup, Hiro Finance, and months earlier, bought an investment app called Roi. These moves suggest OpenAI isn’t trying to become a bank—it wants to sit between you and your bank, acting as a middleman for all things money. Critics say this could end up costing users more as companies like OpenAI collect more personal data. With ads now popping up in ChatGPT conversations, the platform is becoming a crowded space for privacy concerns. The biggest risk isn’t just data privacy—it’s accountability. Unlike human financial advisors, who must legally act in your best interest, ChatGPT doesn’t have those rules. OpenAI adds a disclaimer: "Not financial advice, " but the product feels like it’s giving it anyway. It’s a blurry line that could lead to trouble, especially if users start trusting AI over real experts. As one analyst put it, OpenAI isn’t entering banking—it’s building a layer on top of it, turning conversations about money into a new kind of service. Whether people should trust that service is still up for debate.