Codex API: OpenAI opens access to the model behind Copilot

In one sentence OpenAI releases the Codex API in private beta, giving developers direct access to the code generation model behind GitHub Copilot, free during the beta.

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After showing Codex inside GitHub Copilot, OpenAI also releases it as an API for developers. Meaning anyone can request access and use the same model inside their own app — not just inside the editor.

The company offers it free during the beta, a move to push the community to build on top.

Within a few months a wave of experimental tools appears: code explainers, language translators, SQL generators, chatbots for technical docs. It's the first real wave of AI-powered developer apps outside OpenAI itself.