On Thursday, OpenAI announced it would integrate its popular Codex AI coding tool into its desktop application, ChatGPT, aiming to transform this flagship AI app into an one-stop solution for engineers and other professionals. OpenAI also launched the “Work” mode in the ChatGPT app along with a series of cutting-edge AI models within its newly released GPT-5.6 lineup. The latest release reflects OpenAI’s ambitious strategy: training powerful AI models, delivering them to ChatGPT’s massive user base, and making them indispensable parts of millions of workers’ lives. During a live stream on Thursday, OpenAI engineer Thibault Sottiaux stated that ChatGPT has nearly reached 1 billion users. Once at the forefront of artificial intelligence, OpenAI is now striving to maintain its leading position amid fierce updates rivalries against competitors such as Anthropic, while seeking to outpace Google, Meta, SpaceX AI, and more affordable Chinese AI models. On Thursday, Meta also unveiled its first paid AI model. Originally positioned as a software engineering tool, Codex has since expanded its applications to broader markets. In June this year, the company reported that usage growth in areas like data analysis and research had surpassed traditional coding purposes on Codex, which sees five million weekly active users.