ChatGPT maker OpenAI launches new ‘free’ tools for developers as China threat becomes ‘bigger’

ChatGPT-maker OpenAI has introduced new tools for developers, aimed at helping them create advanced AI agents through a set of application programming interfaces (APIs), as competition from Chinese AI startups intensifies. AI agents are built to independently carry out complex real-world tasks without direct human oversight, while APIs are strings of code that facilitate standardized communication, data exchange, and functionality between software components.

The newly launched tool, called the Responses API, is now accessible to all developers at no extra cost. It will replace OpenAI’s existing Assistants API, which is scheduled to be phased out by the second half of 2026.