OpenAI's first AI agent 'Operator' is here! It can help you with shopping, ticket booking, food delivery... and solve tedious online tasks.

OpenAI officially launches its first AI agent ‘Operator’, which can autonomously control browsers to perform various tasks, including booking travel, ordering takeout, filling out forms, etc., and supports multitasking and personalized settings. Operator is currently limited to professional users in the United States. (Background: ChatGPT o3-mini is about to be released! OpenAI product manager makes a move: AI Agents tool to be launched in Q1) (Background: OpenAI, SoftBank, and Oracle launch the largest AI infrastructure project in history, ‘Stargate Project’: investing $500 billion to establish data centers in the U.S.) AI agents are a highly valued track in the AI industry and encryption field this year. Since Anthropic’s ‘Computer Use’, an AI system that can operate computer interfaces like humans, was introduced at the end of last year, the development of AI agents has sparked broader imagination. Today, leading OpenAI in generative artificial intelligence (AI) officially launches its first AI agent ‘Operator’, becoming a hot topic in the AI community. Operator Features and Scope It is understood that Operator is an AI agent that can autonomously control browsers to perform various tasks for users. Users only need to describe the tasks they want to complete, and Operator can handle the rest of the work, such as booking travel and restaurants on Booking.com, ordering groceries and takeout on UBER, filling out forms, collecting shopping lists for you, creating memes… it can handle multiple tasks simultaneously (like opening multiple tabs in a browser). In addition, it can remember user preferences and settings, providing more personalized services; users can also intervene in operations at any time, adjust operations, or terminate tasks. In addition to the convenience of its features, Operator also values user privacy and security. The official statement says that users can delete all browsing records and log out of all websites with one click. At the same time, OpenAI provides privacy settings options, allowing users to choose to disable the ‘model improvement’ feature to prevent their data from being used for model training. Operator is currently in the research preview version, only open to professional users in the United States (with a subscription fee of $200 per month), and users can visit the website Operator.ChatGPT.com. It will be expanded to Plus, Teams, and Enterprise users in the future. I got early access to ChatGPT Operator. It’s OpenAI’s new AI agent that autonomously takes action across the web on your behalf. The 9 most impressive use cases I’ve tried in videos sped up: 1. Ordering dinner ingredients based on a picture and a recipe pic.twitter.com/tdbApPELD4 — Rowan Cheung @rowancheung January 23, 2025 Operating Principle Operator operates based on a new model called ‘Computer-Using Agent (CUA)’. CUA combines the visual processing capabilities of GPT-4o with advanced reasoning brought by reinforcement learning, specifically trained to interact with graphical user interfaces (GUI) such as buttons, menus, and text fields on the screen. Through screenshots, Operator can ‘see’ interface content and ‘interact’ by using mouse and keyboard operations, achieving web operations without the need for API integration. When faced with challenges or errors, Operator uses its reasoning ability for self-correction; if the problem cannot be solved, control is returned to the user to ensure smooth operation and collaborative task completion. OpenAI has established partnerships with some partners, including DoorDash, Instacart, OpenTable, Priceline, StubHub, Thumbtack, Uber, etc., to ensure that Operator complies with established standards while meeting actual needs. Operator Limitations However, according to entrepreneur Greg Isenberg, Operator also has some limitations. For example, it cannot handle tasks related to payments or logins, may get stuck in complex interfaces, is powerless against CAPTCHAs, and has limited daily usage. In addition, the launch time in Europe is yet to be determined, and according to OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, it will ‘take some time.’ Looking to the future, Operator will open its API to provide support for developers, while continuing to enhance features and expand user coverage, aiming to directly integrate this function into ChatGPT in the future. Related Reports OpenAI’s strongest model o3 ‘cheating’ suspected of getting test answers in advance through privileges, falsifying mathematical abilities? Want to control ChatGPT? Musk writes to the Chief Inspector, requesting a forced auction of OpenAI shares. OpenAI launches o3 model! Reasoning capabilities push up to a higher level, paving the way for the next generation of AI. The original article ‘OpenAI’s first AI agent ‘Operator’ is here! Can help you shop, book tickets, order takeout… solve tedious online tasks’ was first published on BlockTempo, the most influential blockchain news media.