OpenAI Launches Operator API for Autonomous Web Agents

OpenAI's Operator API gives developers the ability to deploy autonomous web-browsing agents at scale with guardrails built in.

This fundamentally shifts how software interacts with the web — replacing human-driven UI interactions with machine-native API calls.

Could displace significant portions of the RPA (Robotic Process Automation) market valued at $13B.

• →Build agent-native SaaS products
• →Create Operator-powered customer service tools

• →Website operators losing control of traffic attribution
• →Security implications of agent impersonation

OpenAI just let developers build robots that can use websites like humans — clicking buttons, filling forms, buying things.

The Operator API represents OpenAI's most significant platform move since the GPT API launch. By providing a standardized interface for web interaction, OpenAI is effectively creating the infrastructure layer for the agentic economy.