OpenAI has officially begun rolling out its new artificial intelligence agent, ChatGPT Agent, after a week-long delay. Originally announced on 18 July, the feature is now being made available to all ChatGPT Plus, Pro, and Team subscribers, according to a statement posted by the company on social media platform X.
The delay in rollout left many users puzzled, with some still reporting the absence of the feature despite OpenAI’s claims of a complete deployment. The company has not disclosed the cause behind the delay, and questions raised in the post’s comment section remain unanswered.
ChatGPT Agent marks a significant expansion in functionality compared to Operator, a previous agent tool introduced by the firm. Unlike Operator, which struggled with complex or multi-step instructions, the new Agent is designed to carry out a broader range of tasks autonomously. In light of this development, OpenAI has also confirmed that Operator will be phased out in the coming weeks.
The Agent is equipped with several tools to carry out its tasks, including a text-based browser for sourcing information, a visual browser for interacting with websites, an integrated development environment (IDE) for coding tasks, and access to publicly available APIs. These features are hosted on a virtual computer dedicated to the Agent, providing it with a simulated environment to operate in.
Additionally, the ChatGPT Agent can connect to external platforms such as Gmail and GitHub via connectors, enabling it to retrieve and interact with data across services. It also offers collaborative functionality, allowing users to oversee or modify tasks in real-time. Activity is displayed in a side window within the chat interface, ensuring users are able to monitor the Agent’s actions.
While the update introduces greater autonomy and expanded use cases, some users continue to experience issues with access, raising concerns about the reliability of the rollout process.
