OpenAI Develops Features to Counter Grok Bot, Mulls Response to Meta’s Muse

OpenAI pioneered AI that can take over web browsers and other applications on people’s behalf, and its ChatGPT app brought generative AI to consumers. Now that rivals like SpaceX and Meta are pushing the boundaries by launching personal AI agents that handle multistep tasks, OpenAI is playing catch-up.

For instance, OpenAI is developing features to compete more directly with SpaceX’s recently launched Grok Bot, which helps customers create always-on AI “teammates” to handle routine tasks, manage software, and collaborate in the background, according to a person with knowledge of the effort. OpenAI also has discussed developing a personal AI assistant to compete with one that Meta Platforms recently launched, according to another person with knowledge of the situation.

In developing such products, OpenAI would be repurposing and rebranding some of the existing “agentic” technology it already offers through Codex and ChatGPT. Some customers of these OpenAI apps have already connected them to their email, calendar and other applications so they can automate tasks such as scheduling appointments or communicating with businesses by email, sometimes over multiple days.