(Bloomberg) — OpenAI is preparing to launch a new artificial intelligence agent called “Operator” that can use a computer to take actions on behalf of a person, such as writing code or booking travel, according to two people familiar with the case. At a staff meeting on Wednesday, OpenAI management announced plans to release the tool in January as a research preview and through the company’s application programming interface for developers, said one of the people, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss internal matters. OpenAI did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
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The planned release is part of a broader industry push toward agents or AI software that can perform multi-step tasks for users with minimal supervision. Anthropic has unveiled a similar agent that can process what’s happening on the user’s computer in real time and act on their behalf. Microsoft Corp., which backs OpenAI, also recently launched a set of agent tools designed to send emails and manage worker records. And Alphabet Inc.’s Google is reportedly preparing to launch an AI agent, according to The Information. OpenAI has worked on several agent-related research projects, according to three people. The closest completion will be a general-purpose tool that performs tasks in a Web browser, one of the people said. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman hinted at the shift to agents in response to a question last month during an Ask Me Anything session. on Reddit. “We will have better models,” Altman wrote. “But I think what will seem to be the next major breakthrough will be agents.” The decision to release an agentic AI tool also comes as OpenAI and its competitors have seen diminishing returns from their costly efforts to develop more advanced AI models.
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