OpenAI is targeting Anthropy with an enhanced Codex that gives it more power on desktop

There is currently a low-key war between OpenAI and Anthropic over who can release the most convenient and powerful AI coding tools, and Anthropic appears to be the winner so far. Claude Code It’s been called the tool of choice for many companies, as TechCrunch reported last week, but OpenAI isn’t giving up just yet.

This week, OpenAI announced a revamp Codex Alimentariusan automated tool of its own, with a variety of new updates designed to give it greatly expanded powers.

On Thursday, the company announced a slew of new features and updates, perhaps most notable of which is that Codex can now work in the background on your computer — opening any application on your desktop and performing operations with your cursor as you click and type.

Functionally, what this does is allow Codex to deploy multiple agents, all running on the user’s Mac “in parallel, without interfering with your work in other applications,” the company said. In a blog post. In other words, because of the way Codex runs in the background, the user can still use the device while the agent is doing its job. The agent will then act, according to the company, as a kind of programming buddy who performs ancillary tasks while working on key projects. OpenAI lists “replicating front-end changes, testing applications, or working in applications that don’t expose the API” as potential use cases for this type of proxy assistance.

Overall, this agent update and other new additions demonstrate OpenAI’s desire to make Codex a competitive assistant for programming and also a multi-faceted tool that can be integrated into a variety of company workflows.

Observers of the AI ​​coding field will also notice that some of the powers that OpenAI is now adding to Codex appear to resemble those that Anthropic previously released for Claude Code. Last month, Anthropy Announce it Claude and Cowork can remotely control your Mac and desktop on behalf of the user while they are away from their keyboard.

In addition to the proxy tools, OpenAI’s Codex now has an in-app browser, which allows the user to issue commands to the proxy tool, which will then execute them virtually on specific web applications. OpenAI says this functionality will be useful for front-end development and games, and that it plans to eventually expand the capability so that Codex can have “full browser control outside of web applications on localhost.”

There are other updates. There’s a new feature in preview called “Memory” that allows Codex to recall previous sessions and create important context about how a particular user worked. The agent has also been given a new image creation ability, which OpenAI says can be used to create product concepts, slide visuals, mockups, placeholder images, and other company tools. Finally, to expand Codex’s ability to get things done, the company announced 111 plugin integrations from apps like CodeRabbit and GitLab Issues, which allow Codex to perform tasks involving those tools.

The way OpenAI frames it, these plugins give Codex the ability to do simple clerical work to organize your work life. For example, if you want Codex to look at your Slack channels and Google Calendar and give you a to-do list for a particular day, OpenAI says it can now do that for you.

A new pay-as-you-go Codex pricing option for enterprise and enterprise ChatGPT customers has also been announced in an apparent attempt to give users more flexibility when it comes to purchasing codex tool services.

Once considered the undisputed leader in its industry, OpenAI has been competing fiercely with Anthropic in recent months, focusing on enterprise capabilities and pulling back on consumer tools like its social video app. Sora 2. The company has also been involved in several controversies in recent months, including… Lawsuits About ChatGPT’s alleged mental health impact on some users.