OpenAI unveiled ChatGPT Work on July 9 — an agent, powered by GPT-5.6, that can stay with a task for hours rather than answering one prompt at a time. It pulls context from approved apps, files, and workflows, and produces finished output — documents, spreadsheets, presentations, or a working web app — instead of a description of what you should build. It reaches the outside world through local files and approved desktop apps, or a built-in browser for sites, tools, and online files it does not have direct access to. Plugins connect it to existing systems, and a new Sites beta lets it create interactive web apps directly from a conversation.
Availability is staged: Pro, Enterprise, and Edu plans get it first, with Plus and Business following. The same product announcement describes one desktop app for Chat, Work, and Codex on macOS and Windows, while Codex keeps a dedicated software-development mode. It also lists inline editing inside diffs, pull-request review in the side panel, multi-repository projects, and faster Computer Use powered by GPT-5.6.
Computer Use can connect parts of a coding loop that only exist in a graphical interface: inspect the app, reproduce a UI bug, edit the code, then run the visual flow again. Whether that is fast and reliable enough depends on the application and task. The practical change is that code, terminal, browser, desktop apps, diff review, and the conversation can share one working context.
The useful evaluation is a real multi-hour task with clear acceptance checks. Record which app permissions it needs, where it stalls, whether the output opens correctly, and how much intervention the run takes. A launch description establishes the intended workflow; it does not establish that Work can replace a specialized agent already proven on your tasks.