Why OpenAI Is Merging ChatGPT and Codex Overnight

During the "OpenAI Intelligence at Work" livestream, OpenAI revealed that in the coming weeks Codex's core capabilities will be integrated into the ChatGPT application, effectively making ChatGPT the conversational front‑end and Codex the task‑execution back‑end.

The integration follows rapid user growth: Codex now has over 5 million weekly active users, a six‑fold increase since its desktop launch in February, with knowledge workers comprising about 20 % of users and growing three times faster than developers.

Three core updates accompany the merge:

Six role‑specific plugins for data analysis, creative production, sales, product design, equity investing, and investment banking, each providing built‑in functions, guidance, and context without complex configuration.

Sites , which lets Codex output results as hosted interactive webpages that can be shared via URL within a workspace, supporting dashboards, planners, review workspaces, project boards, portfolios, and lightweight tools.

Annotations , a precision‑editing feature that lets users select exact regions in documents, code, markdown, slides, or spreadsheets for targeted modifications.

Examples include the data‑analysis plugin that, given a natural‑language question, automatically connects to data sources, generates and runs SQL, creates charts, and assembles interactive reports; and the creative‑production plugin that transforms a brief into mood boards, high‑end product photography, and ad assets exportable to Canva.

Sites enable scenarios such as generating a client‑review site that aggregates product updates, open issues, usage trends, and next steps, or building a financial‑model scenario planner that lets management compare assumptions without juggling multiple document tabs. The output can be continuously updated as details change.

Annotations address a common AI‑workflow pain point: while generating an initial draft is easy, iterative refinement is hard. By selecting a specific area—e.g., a website navigation bar, an investment‑thesis claim, or a slide chart label—users can ask Codex to make localized edits, extending the capability beyond code to documents and presentations.

In parallel, OpenAI recently formed the OpenAI Deployment Company, a joint venture backed by over $4 billion to embed AI tools deeply into enterprise infrastructure. Anthropic, however, launched its Enterprise AI Agent program earlier this year, focusing on finance, engineering, and design verticals, and released additional financial‑industry agents in May.

The article notes that OpenAI, traditionally consumer‑focused, only added plugin support for Codex in March, making this integration appear as a catch‑up move. Anthropic prioritizes enterprise verticals, while OpenAI leverages ChatGPT's massive user base to scale into the enterprise market.

Overall, the competition highlights two divergent strategies: Anthropic’s vertical, enterprise‑first approach versus OpenAI’s scale‑driven, consumer‑to‑enterprise pathway, with the race to embed AI agents into daily work defining future market leadership.