OpenAI targets small firms with new ChatGPT program

OpenAI has launched a new ChatGPT for small business program as it says ChatGPT Work and Codex have reached 10 million users.

The company describes the new program as an effort to help small businesses become more productive and scale with ChatGPT. It includes four parts:

• Hands-on virtual training
• In-person small business AI academies in the U.S.
• Guides for getting started with ChatGPT
• Access to new agents and partners built specifically for small businesses

OpenAI has also published a sign-up form for small businesses that want to join the program.

The launch is part of a broader push around ChatGPT Work, which OpenAI positions as a more agentic version of ChatGPT designed for productivity tasks beyond standard chatbot replies. The 10 million figure for ChatGPT Work and Codex is also notable because it doubles the user base of Codex alone earlier in July.

That growth follows a recent product shift. OpenAI replaced its desktop app this month with a version based on its standalone Codex app, adding more advanced capabilities but also making the basic chat interface more complex. Since then, the company has updated the app several times in an attempt to better balance chat and task-focused workflows.

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OpenAI Developers highlighted those changes in a post on July 21, 2026, saying Codex is becoming faster and easier to navigate, with updates to long chats, the sidebar, reviews, side chats, and everyday workflows.