OpenAI launches Codex, an AI coding agent, in ChatGPT

OpenAI announced connected Friday it’s launching a probe preview of Codex, the company’s astir susceptible AI coding cause yet.

Codex is powered by codex-1, a mentation of the company’s o3 AI reasoning model optimized for bundle engineering tasks. OpenAI says codex-1 produces “cleaner” codification than o3, adheres much precisely to instructions, and volition iteratively tally tests connected its codification until passing results are achieved.

The Codex cause runs successful a sandboxed, virtual machine successful the cloud. By connecting with GitHub, Codex’s situation tin travel preloaded with your codification repositories. OpenAI says the AI coding cause volition instrumentality anyplace from 1 to 30 minutes to constitute elemental features, hole bugs, reply questions astir your codebase, and tally tests, among different tasks.

Codex tin grip aggregate bundle engineering tasks simultaneously, says OpenAI, and it doesn’t bounds users from accessing their machine and browser portion it’s running.

What users spot erstwhile they unfastened up Codex (Credit: OpenAI)

Codex is rolling retired starting contiguous to subscribers to ChatGPT Pro, Enterprise, and Team. OpenAI says users volition person “generous access” to Codex to start, but successful the coming weeks, the institution volition instrumentality complaint limits for the tool. Users volition past person the enactment to acquisition further credits to usage Codex, an OpenAI spokesperson tells TechCrunch.

OpenAI plans to grow Codex entree to ChatGPT Plus and Edu users soon.

AI tools for bundle engineers, besides known arsenic vibe coders, person surged successful popularity successful caller months. The CEOs of Google and Microsoft assertion that astir 30% of their companies’ codification is present written by AI. In February, Anthropic released its ain agentic coding tool, Claude Code, and successful April, Google updated its AI coding assistant, Gemini Code Assist, with much agentic abilities.

All that vibe coding has made the businesses down AI coding platforms immoderate of the fastest-growing successful tech. Cursor, among the astir fashionable AI coding tools, reached annualized gross of astir $300 million successful April and is reportedly raising caller funds astatine a $9 cardinal valuation.

Now, OpenAI wants a portion of the pie. The ChatGPT shaper has reportedly closed connected a woody to get Windsurf, the developer down different fashionable AI coding platform, for $3 billion. The motorboat of Codex shows precise intelligibly that OpenAI is gathering retired its ain AI coding tools, successful addition.

Users with entree to Codex tin find the instrumentality successful ChatGPT’s sidebar, and delegate the cause caller coding tasks by typing a punctual and clicking the “Code” button. Users tin besides inquire questions astir their codebase and click the “Ask” button. Below the prompting bar, users tin spot different tasks they’ve assigned Codex to do, and show their progress.

In a briefing up of Codex’s launch, OpenAI’s Agents Research Lead, Josh Tobin, told TechCrunch the institution yet wants its AI coding agents to enactment arsenic “virtual teammates,” completing tasks autonomously that instrumentality quality engineers “hours oregon adjacent days” to accomplish. OpenAI claims it’s already utilizing Codex internally to offload repetitive tasks, scaffold caller features, and draught documentation.

OpenAI’s caller coding agent, Codex (Credit: OpenAI)

OpenAI Product Lead Alexander Embiricos says a batch of the information enactment for the company’s o3 exemplary applies to Codex arsenic well. In a blog post, OpenAI says Codex volition reliably garbage requests to make “malicious software.” Furthermore, Codex operates successful an air-gapped environment, with nary entree to the broader net oregon outer APIs. This limits however unsafe Codex could beryllium successful the hands of a atrocious histrion — but it whitethorn besides hamper its usefulness.

It’s worthy noting that AI coding agents, overmuch similar each generative AI systems today, are prone to mistakes. A recent survey from Microsoft recovered that industry-leading AI coding models, specified arsenic Claude 3.7 Sonnet and o3-mini, struggled to reliably debug software. However, that doesn’t look to beryllium dampening capitalist excitement successful these tools.

OpenAI is besides updating Codex CLI, the company’s precocious launched open-source coding cause that runs successful your terminal, with a mentation of its o4-mini exemplary that’s optimized for bundle engineering. That exemplary is present the default successful Codex CLI, and volition beryllium disposable successful OpenAI’s API for $1.50 per 1M input tokens (roughly 750,000 words, much than the full Lord of the Rings publication series) and $6 per 1M output tokens.

Codex’s motorboat marks OpenAI’s latest effort to beef up ChatGPT with further products too the notorious chatbot. In the past year, OpenAI has added precedence entree to the company’s AI video platform, Sora, its probe agent, Deep Research, arsenic good arsenic its web browsing agent, Operator, arsenic benefits for subscribers.

These offerings could entice much users to motion up for a ChatGPT subscription, and, successful the lawsuit of Codex specifically, person existing subscribers to wage OpenAI much wealth for accrued complaint limits.