OpenAI’s new Codex app.
Courtesy of OpenAI
OpenAI on Monday launched a standalone app for its artificial intelligence-powered coding assistant, Codex, which is temporarily available to all ChatGPT users with Apple computers.
The new app has a simple interface and is designed to serve as a “command center” that makes it easy for software developers to manage multiple AI agents at once, OpenAI said. An AI agent is a tool that can independently complete tasks, like writing code, on behalf of a user.
AI coding assistants have exploded in popularity over the last year, and OpenAI said more than 1 million developers have used Codex in the past month. The company initially launched Codex in April, and it made the product generally available in October.
The new Codex app is part of OpenAI’s ongoing effort to lure users and market share away from rivals like Anthropic and Cursor, which have their own buzzy offerings for developers.
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said the Codex app is “the most loved internal product we’ve ever had” during a briefing with reporters on Friday.
“It’s been totally an amazing thing for us to be using recently at OpenAI,” Altman said. “‘I’ve been staying up late at night with excitement, building all sorts of things myself.”
Within the Codex app, agents run in separate threads that are organized by project, and users can review the agents’ changes within those threads, OpenAI said. The agents can run in parallel and developers can collaborate with them as they work on long-running tasks.
The Codex app also includes a library of “skills,” like image generation, that can help agents complete tasks beyond just generating code, the company said.
Typically, access to Codex is included with ChatGPT subscriptions, which means Plus, Pro, Business, Enterprise or Edu subscribers can use it and purchase additional credits as needed.
But with the launch of the app on Monday, OpenAI said it is also making Codex available to its free users and its low-cost Go subscription tier for a limited time. That means all ChatGPT users can use Codex across all its available interfaces, including the app for those with Apple computers.
To sweeten the deal for existing Codex users, OpenAI said it is temporarily doubling its rate limits across its paid plans.
“As fast as I can type in new ideas, that is the limit of what can get built,” Altman said. “It’s very cool to watch.
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