AI company OpenAI introduces the ChatGPT Agent as a new personal assistant
On July 17, 2025, OpenAI unveiled the ChatGPT agent, a sophisticated AI integration that combines the capabilities of its earlier agentic systems—Operator and Deep Research—into a single, unified platform. This new agent is now available to ChatGPT Pro, Plus, and Team users via an "agent mode" toggle.
The ChatGPT agent boasts several key features, including active web interaction, task execution, unified intelligence, user convenience, and early stage limitations. Active web interaction allows the agent to scroll, click, type, filter, and gather information on websites, making data collection precise and efficient. It can also manage extended workflows, such as analyzing competitors, planning menus, buying ingredients online, running supporting code, and preparing slide decks or reports.
By merging the best parts of Operator (web interaction) with Deep Research (information synthesis), the ChatGPT agent can fluidly transition between conversation, research, and action autonomously within the same chat interface. This integration emphasizes hands-free task completion with growing autonomy under user oversight.
However, it's important to note that the system still makes factual and operational errors and is being iteratively improved for efficiency, accuracy, and safety.
As for how OpenAI’s ChatGPT agent compares to similar AI agents from Google and Anthropic, the search results do not directly detail these competitors’ offerings as of July 2025. However, based on known trends in the industry, Google has advanced AI assistants like Bard and Google’s experimental agentic AI that integrate tightly with its search engine and services, offering strong real-time information retrieval and workflow integration. Google typically emphasizes robust integration with its massive data ecosystem and productivity tools.
On the other hand, Anthropic focuses on safety and interpretability in AI agents, often developing agents designed with strong alignment and ethical guardrails. Their agents tend to prioritize trustworthy, explainable actions possibly at some trade-off with full autonomic functionality.
OpenAI’s ChatGPT agent is notable for its holistic integration of research, interaction, and action in a single chatbot environment using a virtual computer. While Google’s and Anthropic's agents may differ in focus on ecosystem integration (Google) and alignment/safety constraints (Anthropic), OpenAI’s approach marks a significant step toward agents capable of seamlessly bridging research and real-world actions within a single interface. All systems continue to evolve rapidly.
Here's a summary of the main features of each AI agent:
| Feature | OpenAI ChatGPT Agent | Google AI Agents | Anthropic AI Agents | |------------------------------|---------------------------------------|-------------------------------------|------------------------------------| | Release date | July 17, 2025 | Various, ongoing development | Various, focused on safety | | Core capabilities | Browsing, web interaction, multi-step task execution, code running, API access, deliverables creation | Integrated search, workflow automation, ecosystem integration | Safety-focused, aligned, interpretable agentic AI | | Integration | Within ChatGPT as agent mode | Within Google products ecosystem | Emphasis on ethical and safe AI | | Status | Early stage, iterative improvement | Mature, large-scale deployment | Research-focused, cautious rollout |
This table reflects broad distinctions and known tendencies rather than direct feature-for-feature comparison, due to a lack of precise comparative details in the search results.
The ChatGPT agent can perform a variety of actions, such as booking a restaurant, online shopping, checking a calendar, and manipulating files. It can scan your calendar to find a free evening, then find highly-rated restaurants that match your tastes, and present its selection in just a few minutes. OpenAI assures that the agent asks for user permission before any sensitive action and is trained to refuse suspicious requests (like bank transfers).
The new ChatGPT agent is available exclusively for paying subscribers (Pro, Plus, and Teams). Currently, no sponsored recommendations are planned for the new agent, but the question of monetization remains open. This launch marks a step towards multifunctional autonomous agents, promising efficiency, but also raising issues of transparency and control.
Carl Heyerdahl is the photographer for the cover photo of the event. The launch is part of a broader trend initiated by Google and Anthropic, which have also unveiled similar agents. It's an exciting time for AI development, as we move closer to agents that can seamlessly integrate research and action within a single interface.
The ChatGPT agent, a product of OpenAI, combines its earlier systems, utilizing artificial-intelligence to perform various actions such as booking a restaurant or online shopping. Its integration with technology allows it to scan your calendar, find highly-rated restaurants that match your tastes, and present its selection in just a few minutes.
In the AI industry, OpenAI's ChatGPT agent stands out for its holistic approach, integrating research, interaction, and action in a single chatbot environment using a virtual computer. On the other hand, Google's AI agents emphasize robust integration with its massive data ecosystem and productivity tools, while Anthropic focuses on safety and interpretability in AI agents.
