OpenAI DevDay 2026: Dots, Codex Cloud and 20+ Confirmed Launches

OpenAI packed more than 20 announcements into DevDay 2026 on September 29. The headline was Dots, always-on agents with their own cloud computers, alongside the cheaper GPT-6.1 Sol model, a faster Codex and a new Agents API. Here is what each launch does, who can use it, and which ones are worth your time.

Dots: agents that keep working when you log off

The biggest launch was Dots, an always-on agent powered by GPT-6 Astra. Each Dot gets its own cloud computer, so it can keep working on a task after you close the app. According to InfoWorld, Dots work through ChatGPT, Codex, Slack and Microsoft Teams, with text-message support “coming soon”, and can connect to more than 4,000 apps within boundaries a person sets. OpenAI also previewed specialist enterprise Dots for accounting, marketing and legal work, and said it is working with Microsoft on Agent 365 security controls.

TechCrunch reports that Dots are available to ChatGPT Pro and Business Premium customers in eligible markets, and points out that much of what they do was already possible with Codex harnesses. The new part is packaging: a persistent agent with a friendly face that ordinary users can delegate to.

The models: GPT-6.1 Sol and a faster Codex

OpenAI released GPT-6.1 Sol as a cheaper sibling to Astra, at about one-fifth of Astra's price. Cached input costs $0.10 per million tokens, 95% below the standard input rate, which matters for agents that resend the same long instructions on every step. It is available in ChatGPT and Codex on Plus, Pro, Business, Enterprise and Edu plans. A separate Ultrafast mode makes Codex up to 8x faster. The first GPT-6 Sol and Luna models had already shipped a week earlier, on September 22, as OpenAI announced at the time.

Codex and the Agents API

• Codex Cloud: start a coding task on one device and pick it up on another while it keeps running.
• Codex CLI voice: talk to the command-line agent instead of typing every instruction.
• Codex Security: a cloud service that looks for vulnerabilities in your code, alongside a new Code Review feature.
• Agents API: a developer API for building agents with computer use, hosting, memory and multi-agent controls.

OpenAI's DevDay recap and its developer forum summary also list workspace features such as ChatGPT Space for shared work, Pages for co-editing documents, and an OpenAI Marketplace that lets enterprises spend existing commitments on partner tools. Details on those were thinner at launch, so check the current docs before planning around them.

Our take: which launch matters to whom

• If you pay for ChatGPT: Dots are the launch to try, but give them one narrow, repeatable job first (a weekly report, an inbox triage) and keep the app permissions tight. An agent that runs while you sleep can also make mistakes while you sleep.
• If you build on the API: GPT-6.1 Sol's cached-input price is the real news. Put your long system prompt and tool definitions at the start of each request so they hit the cache, then compare your bill against Astra on a week of real traffic.
• If you write code: Codex Cloud and Codex Security are worth a trial on a side project before they touch production; review every security finding by hand, as you would a junior colleague's.
• If you run IT: agents that act inside Slack, Teams and 4,000+ apps need the same access reviews as a new employee. Wait for the Agent 365 controls before giving Dots broad access.

Sources

• OpenAI: DevDay 2026 recap
• TechCrunch: OpenAI launches Dots, its bubbly agentic avatar (September 29, 2026)
• InfoWorld: OpenAI bets enterprises are ready to delegate real work to autonomous agents
• OpenAI Developer Community: DevDay 2026 announcements and developer resources
• OpenAI: Introducing GPT-6 Sol and Luna

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