OpenAI takes aim at Anthropic with beefed-up Codex that gives it more power over your desktop

OpenAI has significantly upgraded its Codex coding assistant with autonomous desktop control capabilities that allow AI agents to operate in parallel in the background, directly competing with Anthropic's Claude Code which has become the preferred enterprise tool. The enhanced Codex now includes 111 third-party integrations, browser control, memory features, and flexible pay-as-you-go pricing for enterprise customers, positioning it as a comprehensive workflow automation platform beyond just coding assistance. This intensifying AI coding tool competition signals a shift toward agentic AI systems that can autonomously manage multiple business processes, requiring IT leaders to reassess their development toolchains and desktop security policies.