OpenAI is launching a cloud-based software engineering agent called Codex as the hype surrounding building software using AI continues gathering pace. This OpenAI launch has preempted Google’s expected release of a more capable coding tool at its I/O event next week, according to a report in The Information. According to numerous reports, OpenAI is in talks to acquire Windsurf (formerly Codeium), a startup that makes a popular AI coding tool, for $3 billion. OpenAI already offers a Codex command-line tool that can generate code. The new web-based Codex, which OpenAI calls “research previous,” runs its own mini computer within a browser.