What is OpenAI’s ‘Operator’? The AI assistant that performs web tasks for you

ChatGPT maker OpenAI has revealed a new AI assistant which can carry out tasks on the internet given by the user.

The tool, which can surf the web autonomously, can book flights, plan trips, order online shopping, all without human control. Called Operator, the AI agent can complete tasks that users would have otherwise done themselves. An ‘early research preview’ will be made available to OpenAI’s pro subscribers in the US who pay $200 a month.

“We think this is going to be a big trend in AI and really impact the work people can do, how productive they can be, what they can accomplish,” OpenAI boss Sam Altman said during the announcement live stream. “We’ve got a lot of improvements to do – we’ll make it better, we’ll make it cheaper, we’ll make it more widely available – but we really want to put it in people’s hands,.

“We’ll also have more agents to launch in the coming weeks and months.”

Altman wrote on his personal blog earlier this month that he believed 2025 would see the start of AI agents being rolled out by tech firms, and that these tools would “join the workforce and materially change the output of companies”.

Earlier this month, UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced a huge public rollout of AI in a plan to boost growth and improve living standards across the nation.

The Government said it would give £7 million to fund projects involving AI technology that predict potholes before they form, help farmers make their dairy cows produce greater yields, help bakeries cut food food waste, and assist a whole range of other businesses.

However, some tech experts have warned the UK government that AI should not be seen as a ‘magic’ short-term fix to the nation’s problems. Others have criticised the technology