OpenAI’s AI agents need to catch up

OpenAI, credited with popularizing the modern generative chatbot, is expected to address a widening gap in the market for continuously running consumer AI agents at its 2026 DevDay. Industry chatter points to a potential new agent called Aeon; details are scarce, but the company’s forthcoming frontier model, GPT-6 Astra, is widely reported to underlie any major agent announcement. OpenAI previously showcased an agentic API in 2024 and launched early consumer agents in 2025, yet visible momentum around agents has slowed relative to rivals. Several competitors have accelerated the agent race. OpenClaw, released late last year, is credited with turning agents from proofs of concept into practical tools. Meta’s Muse quickly topped App Store charts after launch and reportedly reached about 600,000 daily active users in the U.S., according to Apptopia. Google’s Gemini Spark operates as a continuous agent with more than 30 external service partners, and startups like Instinct have drawn attention for easy multi-app chat access, including iMessage. Beyond user growth, security and privacy issues have shadowed the rapid rollout of agents. Reports cite at least one now-patched vulnerability that let attackers hijack accounts, alongside anecdotal complaints — such as Muse allegedly sharing a home address and reading private messages — that illustrate risks when agents are granted increased autonomy. Any new entrant will face scrutiny over how it balances convenience with safeguards. OpenAI may have internal expertise to lean on: the company employs Peter Steinberger, the creator of OpenClaw, whose experience could inform an agent product. Still, OpenAI must contend with integration advantages held by rivals — Meta’s broad social ecosystem and Google’s suite of enterprise and consumer services — that help their agents plug into users’ lives. How Aeon, if announced, combines usefulness, ease of setup, conversational simplicity, and hardened security will determine whether it can close the gap in this rapidly evolving category.