OpenAI’s Thibault Sottiaux on ChatGPT Work, AI agents, and the cost of intelligence

OpenAI’s head of product, Thibault Sottiaux, says the world is ready for AI agents that can handle complex work tasks autonomously, as the company pushes to bring its coding agent technology to a broader audience through ChatGPT Work. In an interview with Bitcoin World, Sottiaux discussed the product’s rapid adoption, the philosophy behind its design, and how OpenAI plans to make intelligence more affordable over time.

From Codex to ChatGPT Work: Democratizing AI agents

Sottiaux, who leads core products including API, agent infrastructure, enterprise, and all of ChatGPT, explained that ChatGPT Work is an exercise in taking the power of coding agents—previously reserved for technical users—and packaging it for the general workforce. “We wanted to bring the power of coding agents to everyone,” he said. The product is available on the Plus plan at $20 per month, a deliberate move to make it accessible to the broadest possible population. “The amount of value you get out of it is quite incredible,” Sottiaux added.

Design philosophy: Simplicity and discovery

When asked about the balance between letting the model take the lead versus providing user interfaces, Sottiaux emphasized a minimalist approach. “You need to get out of the way, almost, of the model,” he said, highlighting the launch of ChatGPT Voice as an example of making interactions more natural. He also described the product development as “a product of discovery,” where OpenAI learns what the models are capable of as they push the frontier, then builds products around those capabilities. For instance, GPT-5.6 was a step up in general work—processing large documents, generating quality slides and reports—and OpenAI leaned into that.

Winning over skeptics and the cost of intelligence

Addressing concerns about the gap between what users pay and the tokens they consume, Sottiaux pointed to recent price cuts, including an 80% reduction with Luna, as part of a permanent price correction. “Our goal is to, over time, include more utility in the same dollar amount,” he said, adding that users should be able to do more with less spend six months from now. On safety, he stressed that OpenAI invests heavily in safety stacks and publishes honest benchmarks, aiming to reassure users worried about granting access to emails and messages.

Conclusion

As OpenAI hits 20 million users for ChatGPT Work, Sottiaux’s vision is clear: make AI agents simple, safe, and affordable for everyone. The company’s focus on discovery and iterative deployment suggests that the product will continue to evolve rapidly, with implications for how white-collar work gets done.

FAQs

Q1: What is ChatGPT Work?
ChatGPT Work is a platform from OpenAI designed for white-collar workers to leverage AI agents for complex tasks, such as document processing, report generation, and deep research. It is part of the ChatGPT Plus plan at $20 per month.

Q2: How does OpenAI ensure the safety of AI agents?
OpenAI invests in a comprehensive safety stack, publishes honest benchmarks, and focuses on building aligned models. The company aims to make the technology safe and reliable for tasks that involve access to sensitive data like email.

Q3: Will the cost of using ChatGPT Work decrease over time?
Yes, OpenAI has already cut prices significantly, and Sottiaux indicated that the cost of frontier capabilities will continue to drop, allowing users to accomplish more with the same budget over time.