OpenAI’s AI agents need to catch up

OpenAI popularized the modern generative AI chatbot, but as its 2026 DevDay event approaches, it’s fallen behind in one of the industry’s hottest categories: continuously running, consumer-facing AI agents. On Tuesday, it will likely try to capture the lead in that race. Rumors abound that OpenAI will release its own AI agent, dubbed Aeon — its answer to Meta’s Muse, SpaceX’s Grok Bot, OpenClaw, and many more.

Aeon could have a shot at success, but to beat the competition, it would need to pull together the best features of several different agent platforms. The ideal system would be as useful as the open-source OpenClaw, as cheap and easy to set up as Meta’s Muse, and as simple to chat with as the up-and-coming Instinct. Conversely, it would aim to solve the serious security risks that have plagued agents since the rise of OpenClaw and only continued with Muse.

AI agents — platforms capable of booking travel, buying groceries, scheduling appointments, helping with work presentations, and more — have been an industry goal for years. OpenAI demoed an agentic API feature at the 2024 DevDay and released early versions of consumer-facing AI agents, focused on computer use and research, in mid-2025. It was only late last year with OpenClaw, however, that agents went from proof of concept to practical success. Since then, the race has only accelerated, while OpenAI’s visible progress around agents has lagged.