What is OpenAI Codex?

OpenAI released OpenAI Codex, its AI system that translates natural language into code, through an API in private beta. Proficient in more than a dozen programming languages, including JavaScript, Go, Perl, PHP, Ruby, Swift, and TypeScript, Codex can interpret commands in plain English and execute them, making it possible to build a natural language interface for existing apps.

OpenAI Codex is now available in private beta via our API, and it's aiming to scale up as quickly as it can safely. 

During the initial period, OpenAI Codex will be offered for free. OpenAI will continue building on the safety groundwork we laid with GPT-3—reviewing applications and incrementally scaling them up while working closely with developers to understand the effect of our technologies in the world, potentially eventually available for both developers and enterprises. 

In demos of Codex, OpenAI shows how the software can be used to build simple websites and rudimentary games using natural language, as well as translate between different programming languages and tackle data science queries.

“We see this as a tool to multiply programmers,” OpenAI’s CTO and co-founder Greg Brockman told The Verge. “Programming has two parts to it: you have ‘think hard about a problem and try to understand it,’ and ‘map those small pieces to existing code, whether it’s a library, a function, or an API.’” The second part is tedious, he says, but it’s what Codex is best at. “It takes people who are already programmers and removes the drudge work.”

The wider coding community will ultimately benefit from OpenAI’s work. “The real net effect is a lot of value for the ecosystem,” says Brockman. “At the end of the day, these types of technologies, I think, can reshape our economy and create a better world for all of us.”

What is happening with Codex has happened before a few times. In the early days of computing, programming was done by creating physical punch cards that had to be fed into machines, then people invented the first programming languages and began to refine these. 

“Each of these stages represents programming languages becoming more high level,” says Zaremba. “And we think Codex is bringing computers closer to humans, letting them speak English rather than machine code.”

If it succeeds, Codex might not only help programmers but become a new interface between users and computers. OpenAI says it’s tested Codex’s ability to control not only Word but other programs like Spotify and Google Calendar.