OpenAI DevDay 2026 for Builders: The Four That Matter
The four DevDay announcements worth knowing if you build automations, who gets each one, and a prompt that finds which of your tools an agent could take over.
Back to all free guidesSo in the reel I showed the four things from OpenAI's DevDay on 29 September that actually matter if you build automations. OpenAI announced over 20 things that day, but these are the ones I'd look at first. Each one has what it is, why it's useful for agents and automations, which plans get it and the official link, and at the bottom there's a prompt that works out which of your own tools an agent could take over.
1. GPT-6.1 Sol
- What it is. An upgrade to GPT-6 Sol that OpenAI says nearly matches GPT-6 Astra on agentic coding, computer use and professional work.
- What it costs. $2 per million input tokens and $10 per million output tokens, against Astra's $10 and $50, so it's literally a fifth of the price. Cached input is just $0.10 per million, which helps when an agent keeps rereading the same context.
- Why it matters if you run automations. Agents run all day, so the token bill is where the money goes. On OSWorld 2.0, a test of computer-use work, OpenAI puts Sol within 2.1 points of Astra at maximum reasoning effort, for roughly a seventh of the cost per task.
- Who gets it. Developers through the API as
gpt-6.1-sol. In ChatGPT it's in Work and Codex for Plus, Pro, Business, Enterprise and Edu, rather than the normal chat. - The official links. Introducing GPT-6.1 Sol and OpenAI's API pricing page.
2. Computer use in the Agents API
- What it is. The Agents API is OpenAI's API for building agents that run in the cloud on the same setup that powers Codex, and now it can use a computer. Your agent gets its own browser on OpenAI's side, then goes to websites and clicks and types through them the way you would.
- Why it matters if you run automations. A lot of the tools small businesses run on don't have an API, which used to be where an automation stopped. If you can do the job in a browser, an agent can now do it too.
- You approve where it goes. The browser asks before it opens each new website, and logins get handed back to your app to fill in.
- Who gets it. Developers through the API, plus Codex and ChatGPT Work on Enterprise and on Pro 500, the new top Pro tier.
- The official link. OpenAI's computer use guide for the Agents API.
3. Codex in the cloud
- What it is. Codex, OpenAI's coding agent, can now run in the cloud as well as on your own computer. You set up a cloud environment once (your repositories, dependencies, tools and access settings) and every task starts from it.
- Why it matters if you run automations. You can kick off a coding task from your phone and it keeps going while your laptop's asleep. Then you check the changes and test results from the web, mobile or desktop app, which is pretty sweet when your automations live in code and something breaks while you're out.
- How to start a task. In ChatGPT on the web or the desktop app, choose Work in > Cloud and pick an environment. On mobile, open Codex.
- Who gets it. Plus, Pro, Business, Healthcare, Education and Enterprise.
- The official link. OpenAI's Codex Cloud guide.
4. Dots
- What they are. Always-on agents inside ChatGPT that keep working on a job between your chats. Each dot runs on GPT-6 Astra, has its own cloud computer and browser, and can connect to over 4,000 apps through plugins.
- Why it matters if you run automations. It's basically an agent you give a goal to and leave to get on with it, and it brings the work back for you to review. One of OpenAI's early testers had their dot notice they'd forgotten to invoice a publication, so it prepared the invoice and sent it once they'd approved it.
- Where you talk to it. ChatGPT on desktop, web and mobile, plus Slack and Teams. Conversations with your dot don't count toward your ChatGPT usage limits.
- Who gets it. Pro users outside the EEA, Switzerland and the UK, and Business Premium users in every supported ChatGPT region, so in the UK it's Business Premium you need. Enterprise, Edu and Healthcare get a beta once a workspace admin switches it on. On Pro and Business Premium your first dot is included at no extra cost. You need to be 18 or over, and you create it in the ChatGPT desktop app or on desktop web. It's rolling out gradually, so it can take a few days to show up.
- The official links. OpenAI's dots announcement and OpenAI's getting-started page for dots, which has the plan list.
Where I'd start
I'd start with number two. To be honest, the tool with no API is usually the one somebody spends hours clicking through by hand every week, and that's exactly the job computer use is for. Paste this into ChatGPT and fill in the last two lines:
I want to find out which of my business tools an AI agent could use for me. Go through the tools I list below one at a time. For each one, tell me whether it has a public API or an official Zapier, Make or n8n integration, and if you're not sure, say so instead of guessing.
Then sort them into two lists. List one is the tools I can connect the normal way. List two is the tools I can only use through a web browser, which an agent with computer use could click through for me.
For the job I want automated, tell me which tool is the one holding it up. Then write out the steps an agent would follow in that tool's screens, click by click, in plain English, and tell me which steps I should approve myself.
Tools I use:
Job I want automated:Pick whatever in list two eats the most hours, and that's basically your first computer-use job.