OpenAI Reportedly Planning to Launch AI Agents That Can Control Tasks on Computer

OpenAI is reportedly planning to release artificial intelligence (AI) agents that can operate tasks on computer systems. As per a report, the company has been working on several agent-related research projects, one of which is dubbed “Operator” which can execute multi-step actions on computers. The AI agents are said to be released in January 2025 as a research preview for developers. The company is reportedly planning to access its AI agents via a native application programming interface (API) which developers can use to build software and apps.

OpenAI’s AI Agents

AI Agents have become a recent trend in the AI space. These are smaller AI models that have a limited but specialised knowledge base and can use specific software to execute actions such as mimicking keystrokes, button clicks, and more. Due to the specialised nature of the models, they can complete tasks with accuracy and speed.

According to a Bloomberg report, OpenAI has developed a new AI agent dubbed Operator that can complete tasks on computers. Citing people familiar with the matter, the publication claimed that users will be able to command the AI agent complicated tasks such as writing code or booking tickets, and it would be able to perform them.

On Wednesday, OpenAI executives reportedly revealed plans to release the tool in January 2025 as a research preview. The company is said to create a new API for developers through which developers will have access to it.

Notably, OpenAI is reportedly working on several agent-related research projects, which are near completion. One such agent is said to be capable of executing tasks in a web browser. Details about the other projects are currently not known.

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman mentioned AI agents as the company’s focus earlier this month during a question and answer session on Reddit. Replying to a user, he said, “We will have better and better models. But I think the thing that will feel like the next giant breakthrough will be agents.”

Anthropic, OpenAI’s competitor, released native AI agents last month. Dubbed Computer Use, these agents can understand and interact with computers, essentially allowing them to control and complete tasks on PCs. These agents are built on an upgraded version of Claude 3.5 Sonnet.