OpenAI launches standalone app for coding AI 'Codex'

New York (The Financial News) —OpenAI has released a standalone application for its AI-based coding assistant "OpenAI Codex," accelerating its push into the developer ecosystem. As rivals roll out their own coding-focused AI tools, analysts say OpenAI is moving to broaden its user base and defend its market share.
OpenAI unveiled the dedicated Codex app on the 2nd (local time). The app is being offered for a limited time to all ChatGPT users on Apple computers. Previously, access to Codex required a ChatGPT subscription, but offering it as a separate app has lowered the barrier to entry.
According to OpenAI, the new app serves as a "command center" that lets users manage multiple AI agents through a simple interface. These AI agents are tools that independently carry out tasks such as writing code on behalf of the user. They run in parallel within project-specific threads, allowing developers to collaborate with the agents even during long-running work.
With demand for AI coding assistants surging, OpenAI reported that more than 1 million developers used OpenAI Codex over the past month. Codex was first introduced in April and has been available to the general public since October.
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman recently described the Codex app as "the most beloved product internally so far." He added, "The experience of using it at OpenAI recently has been truly amazing," and said, "I've been so excited that I stay up late building all sorts of things with it myself."
Until now, Codex has been available to paying subscribers on plans such as ChatGPT Plus, ChatGPT Pro, ChatGPT Business, ChatGPT Enterprise, and ChatGPT Edu. With the app launch, however, OpenAI has temporarily opened Codex to free users and those on lower-priced plans as well. As a result, all ChatGPT users can now access Codex across every interface, including the app for Apple computers. For existing paid users, OpenAI has temporarily doubled usage limits.

pride@fnnews.com Correspondent Lee Byung-chul Reporter