OpenAI folds Codex into ChatGPT; launches ChatGPT Work agent to compete with Claude Cowork

<cite index="29-2">OpenAI announced ChatGPT Work, a ChatGPT agent with built-in Codex that can complete tasks across web, mobile, and desktop using information from your apps. ChatGPT Work can execute multi-step tasks, using scheduling to work independently.</cite> <cite index="23-5">Codex is now part of a broader ChatGPT desktop app, and within the ChatGPT desktop app, ChatGPT Work is for those looking to tackle a broader range of complex projects, bringing Codex's agentic capabilities across web, mobile, and desktop, while Codex itself remains focused on software development.</cite>

<cite index="29-1,29-3">With OpenAI merging Codex and ChatGPT, there is a new ChatGPT desktop app that's available across Mac and Windows. Users who have the Codex app installed can update it to turn it into the new ChatGPT desktop app. The existing ChatGPT desktop app is being renamed ChatGPT Classic.</cite> <cite index="25-3">At the center of this push is Thibault Sottiaux, the former head of Codex, who has recently been promoted to oversee OpenAI's core product platform for consumer, business, and developer customers.</cite> <cite index="24-1">The move comes as OpenAI has been working to bring Codex workflows into the main ChatGPT app for some time.</cite>

<cite index="23-2">OpenAI's ChatGPT Work, a Codex-based agentic tool for knowledge workers, will compete with Claude Cowork.</cite> <cite index="29-4">ChatGPT Work is available today for Pro, Enterprise, and Edu plans. It will expand to Plus and Business plans in the next few days.</cite> <cite index="25-1,25-3">The company is folding ChatGPT and Codex into a single platform just as it races to go public, with the end goal of a single, highly capable agent that can handle both simple requests and more complex tasks—from answering quick questions to planning a complex trip and then booking all the travel arrangements.</cite> Architects: the consolidation signals OpenAI's shift from modular (separate chat/code/work apps) to monolithic (one ChatGPT superapp). This mirrors Anthropic's Claude desktop move and pressures standalone agent tooling to find defensible niches on top of platform layers.