Following a week of major AI programming announcements from Microsoft and Google, OpenAI has joined in the fun. Today, OpenAI is announcing a new version of Codex, its programming-focused AI model. While the announcement was today, the actual GPT-5.1-Codex-Max capability will be available tomorrow in Codex for ChatGPT Plus, Pro, Business, Edu, and Enterprise users. API access is "coming soon." OpenAI says the new Max model "replaces GPT-5.1-Codex as the recommended model for agentic coding tasks in Codex and Codex-like environments."
Now that we've compressed nearly all human knowledge into large language models, the next frontier is tool calling. Chaining together different AI tools enables automation. The shift from thinking to doing represents the real breakthrough in AI utility. I've built more than 100 tools for myself, & they work most of the time, but not all the time. I'm not alone. Anthropic's Economic Index report reveals that 77% of business use of Claude centers on full-task automation, not co-piloting.
