OpenAI’s ‘Frontier’ Turns AI From Sidekick to Coworker
AI’s getting a promotion. After years of helping humans tag documents and write bland emails, big companies are now ready to let it actually do work.
OpenAI just launched Frontier, a platform that lets enterprises build, train, and supervise AI “coworkers.” These digital colleagues don’t just answer questions — they dive into systems, complete real tasks, and, for all we know, steal your lunch out of the office fridge.
From toys to tools that actually clock in
Frontier gives AI agents a shared workspace — complete with permissions, context, and performance reviews (yes, really). Think of it as HR for bots: onboarding, compliance tracking, and a big red “stop” button in case your AI tries to optimize the payroll department out of existence.
Who’s testing the AI interns?
Early adopters include Intuit, Uber, State Farm, HP, Oracle, and others brave enough to let an algorithm touch their backend systems. That’s a big shift from AI doodling around in chat windows to actually running part of your operations.
Why it matters
Until now, “AI in enterprise” meant assistants — summarizing reports, automating tickets, and occasionally hallucinating PowerPoints. With Frontier, AI can actually act: update records, respond to customers, trigger workflows — all while pretending it’s not coming for middle management’s job.
The fine print
Making this work requires bulletproof data, strict guardrails, and enough governance to make a lawyer blush. Enterprises need to ensure their new robot colleagues don’t accidentally email sensitive data to the wrong client — or order 10,000 staplers.
Bottom line
Frontier marks the end of the “AI intern phase.” The machines are officially joining the workforce — complete with context, compliance, and a direct line to your boss. Just don’t expect them to join the office Slack happy hour.
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