OpenAI sees Codex users spike to 1 million, positions coding tool as gateway to AI agents for business

OpenAI says its seeing breakout growth for its AI coding tool Codex, even as controversy over the company’s agreement to supply AI to the Pentagon has derailed the public messaging around Codex’s momentum and resulted in some consumers boycotting its ChatGPT product.

Since early February, when OpenAI launched GPT-5.3 Codex, the latest and most capable version of its coding agent, more than 1 million people have downloaded the codex desktop app and Codex now boasts more than 1 million active weekly users...