Photo by Focal Foto via Flickr.OpenAI on Friday announced Codex, its latest flagship AI coding agent. The tech company stated that the AI coding agent would take between one and thirty minutes to write simple features. Each Codex task would run in its sandbox realm in the cloud, preloaded with the user’s repository.
OpenAI released the research preview of Codex, a cloud-based AI agent that could work on multiple tasks in parallel. The firm noted that the AI coding agent could suggest pull requests for review. Firms like Cisco and Temporal have already started using Codex in their operations as they provide feedback to OpenAI.
Open AI reveals how Codex works
today we are introducing codex.
it is a software engineering agent that runs in the cloud and does tasks for you, like writing a new feature of fixing a bug.
you can run many tasks in parallel.
— Sam Altman (@sama) May 16, 2025
Per the announcement, Codex is supported by Codex-1, a version of the firm’s 03 designed for engineering tasks. According to OpenAI, the AI agent was trained utilizing reinforcement learning in various environments. It was trained on real-world coding tasks to generate code resembling human style and PR preferences. Codex was also trained to precisely adhere to coding instructions and run tests until it got a passing result.
OpenAI said it launched Codex to users with ChatGPT Pro, Team, and Enterprise on Friday. The firm added that the AI coding agent will soon be available for its Plus and Edu subscriptions. The AI company advised ChatGPT users to access Codex through its sidebar. The firm added that users could assign new coding tasks to the AI coding agent by writing a prompt and tapping ‘Code.’ The tech firm said users could also ask Codex questions regarding their codebase.
The AI firm said the new coding agent could read and edit files. Codex could also run commands like test harnesses, type checkers, and liters. The AI agent could be monitored in real time as it handles multiple tasks.
The firm explained that once the AI coding agent completes a task, it would commit changes to its realm. OpenAI added that the AI coding agent would also offer verifiable evidence of its actions. The company explained that Codex would provide citations of test outputs and terminal logs, enabling users to trace each of the steps taken during the execution of the task. OpenAI said users could review the results offered by Codex. The AI firm added that users could also request revisions.
OpenAI praises Codex’s speed, security, and transparency
Josh Tobin, OpenAI’s Agents Research Lead, said the firm wanted their AI coding agents to act as online teammates who could execute tasks autonomously that could take human engineers hours or days to complete. The firm revealed it was already using its new AI coding agent internally to offload repetitive tasks, draft documentation, and scaffold new features.
While announcing the new AI coding agent, OpenAI said it prioritized security when designing it. The firm also prioritized transparency when creating the AI coding agent. OpenAI clarified that they prioritized transparency so users could verify Codex’s outputs. Alexander Embiricos, OpenAI’s Product Lead, said the safety work and features on the firm’s o3 also applied to Codex. OpenAI stated that Codex would refuse requests to create malicious software. The tech firm added that Codex functions in an air-gapped realm, meaning it would not access external APIs or the broader internet.
The firm advised users to review the code generated by Codex manually. The tech company added that they should expect Codex to communicate when faced with uncertainty or test failures. OpenAI said the Codex agent was designed to communicate issues to users so they could make informed decisions on how they intend to proceed.
In recent months, Google and Microsoft revealed that roughly 30 percent of their code was created by AI. In February, Anthropic launched Claude Code, its own agentic coding tool. Google launched additional features for Gemini Code Assist, its AI coding agent.
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