OpenAI Introduces Responses API to Advance AI Agent Development

The new toolset allows developers to build autonomous AI agents with enhanced search, file navigation, and task automation capabilities.

OpenAI has launched the Responses API, enabling developers to create AI agents capable of web searches, file scanning, and computer task automation.
The Responses API replaces the Assistants API, which will be phased out by mid-2026, and incorporates improvements based on developer feedback.
Developers can use GPT-4o search models within the API for real-time web search and citation capabilities, though challenges like hallucinations and unreliable citations persist.
The release includes the Agents SDK, a toolkit to integrate, orchestrate, and monitor AI agent workflows for more complex use cases.
This launch comes as Chinese startups, such as Monica and Butterfly Effect, gain traction with their own AI agent technologies, intensifying global competition in the AI space.