OpenAI has opened the door to a lot more than recipe and essay questions. From Friday, ChatGPT Pro users in the United States can link their bank accounts to the chatbot and ask it about everything - from spending analysis to retirement planning. Two years ago, you wouldn't have given this data to a banker. Today, you're handing it to a language model.

The link runs through Plaid - the financial middleware already used by Robinhood, Venmo and hundreds of other apps. Through it, ChatGPT gets access to more than 12,000 financial institutions, including Schwab, Fidelity, Chase, American Express and Capital One. Once connected - a dashboard with portfolio performance, subscriptions, upcoming payments.

The timeline is interesting. A month ago, OpenAI bought the team from the startup Hiro, backed by Ribbit, General Catalyst and Restive. According to the company, their expertise was key to launching this product - though it doesn't say whether the team built the whole thing. An integration with Intuit is also planned, which will allow analysis of the tax implications of selling stock or the odds of being approved for a credit card.

The number OpenAI is highlighting: more than 200 million users are already asking ChatGPT financial questions every month. That isn't a research finding - it is an admission that people are already going to a language model for financial advice, and the company is now simply formalising the relationship. The new GPT-5.5 model, they say, is stronger at reasoning with context - precisely what you need for calculations and money analysis.

The appeal is clear, the risks too. This data is perhaps the most sensitive that exists - more sensitive than medical data, in certain ways. OpenAI says the data will be deleted 30 days after an account is disconnected. What happens between day one and day 30, and where all of it ends up - that is what lawyers will be cutting into thin slices for years to come. Perplexity and Anthropic have already entered the same space. The question isn't whether this is a trend - it is how long until the first big incident.