OpenAI launches ChatGPT Work to bring AI coding power to professionals

OpenAI on Thursday unveiled ChatGPT Work, a new artificial intelligence agent designed to help professionals create documents, presentations and websites using advanced coding capabilities without requiring programming expertise.

The new tool combines OpenAI's widely used ChatGPT chatbot with its AI coding assistant, Codex, allowing users to complete complex workplace tasks through simple instructions. ChatGPT Work is powered by GPT-5.6, the company's latest and most advanced AI model, which was also introduced on Thursday.

The launch marks OpenAI's latest push into the rapidly expanding market for AI-powered workplace assistants, where technology firms are increasingly competing to provide autonomous tools capable of carrying out multi-step tasks with limited human involvement.

ChatGPT Work is aimed primarily at professionals who want to tap into the power of AI coding systems without needing technical training.

The product is positioned as a direct competitor to Anthropic's Claude Cowork, an AI agent launched earlier this year that can independently plan and execute complex tasks.

As competition intensifies among AI developers, enterprise customers have become a key battleground. Business-focused AI products typically generate higher revenues than consumer-facing services, making them an increasingly important source of growth for companies such as OpenAI and Anthropic.

OpenAI executives said affordability was a major focus in the development of ChatGPT Work.

The company introduced three versions of its GPT-5.6 model, allowing customers to choose between different levels of performance and cost.

Ty Geri, product manager for ChatGPT Work, said the model's coding capabilities could be applied across a wide range of industries.

“You can apply the model's ability to code to solve problems across every industry,” Geri said.

He added that GPT-5.6 delivers performance comparable to significantly more expensive AI systems while operating faster and at a lower cost.

Industry analysts say pricing has become a growing concern as businesses seek to scale their use of AI tools.

Max Weinbach of consulting firm Creative Strategies said the smallest version of GPT-5.6 performs many tasks at a level similar to the largest model while costing roughly one-fifth as much.

Before Thursday's announcement, OpenAI's agent products included Operator, Deep Research and ChatGPT Agent, as well as enterprise-focused Workspace Agents.

The company also introduced a new desktop application for ChatGPT and a hosted websites feature that allows users to build and share websites directly through ChatGPT Work.

ChatGPT Work will begin rolling out immediately on web and mobile platforms for Pro, Enterprise and Edu subscribers, with access expanding to Plus and Business users in the coming days.

The launch underlines the growing race among AI companies to offer more capable workplace assistants as businesses increasingly look for tools that can automate complex tasks and improve productivity.