OpenAI's Andrew Ambrosino says the Codex desktop app has grown sixfold since February to 5 million weekly active users · Digg

/Tech2h ago

OpenAI's Andrew Ambrosino says the Codex desktop app has grown sixfold since February to 5 million weekly active users

Story Overview

OpenAI lead Andrew Ambrosino shared on Lenny's Podcast that the Codex desktop app reached 5 million weekly active users after multiplying six times since February, with adoption extending well beyond the engineering team to nearly every employee at the company.

472511716982.8K

Original post

Lenny Rachitsky@lennysan#543inTech

Andrew Ambrosino (@ajambrosino) leads the team behind the Codex desktop app at @OpenAI. Codex usage has 6x'd since February, reaching over 5M weekly active users, and nearly 100% of OpenAI's employees use the Codex app regularly (and not just the engineers).

Andrew's personal mission is to build "the best desktop app that has ever existed, full stop." If you've used the Codex app lately, you know he's not far off from that goal.

In our in-depth conversation, we discuss: 🔸 The "zone defense" model of how PMs at OpenAI operate 🔸 Why AI is so bad at design 🔸 Why Andrew thinks the Codex app would have flopped if they'd shipped it in November instead of February (same product—only the model changed) 🔸 What “taste” really means as a professional skill 🔸 How Andrew uses Codex to run his workflows 🔸 His vision for Codex + ChatGPT

Listen now 👇 https://youtu.be/P3KDebPTUrw

11:07 AM · Jun 28, 2026 · 57.2K Views

Internal Adoption

Internal teams lean on it for daily work

Roughly 100 percent of OpenAI staff now use the app on a weekly basis, and non-developers already account for about one-fifth of those users while growing faster than the developer segment.

Open Question

External reach still carries unknowns

The 5 million weekly figure covers all users yet specific breakdowns on daily activity, retention, or outside demographics remain unstated in the interview.

Sentiment

Many users praised the OpenAI Codex App reaching 5M weekly users with strong internal adoption because they view taste as a new competitive advantage and expressed admiration for related interviews and the technology.

Pos

91.7%

Neg

8.3%

16 comments with sentiment.

Cluster Engagement

Digg Deeper

No Digg Deeper questions have been answered for this story yet.

Related links

OpenAI Codex lead on the new shape of product work | Andrew Ambrosino

YOUTUBEVia

Online Business Banking For Startups, Small Businesses & Scaling Companies

Posts from X

Most Activity

VIEWS11.5KLIKES67

jason@jxnlco

This is the hot codex guy?!

Lenny Rachitsky@lennysan

Andrew Ambrosino (@ajambrosino) leads the team behind the Codex desktop app at @OpenAI. Codex usage has 6x'd since February, reaching over 5M weekly active users, and nearly 100% of OpenAI's employees use the Codex app regularly (and not just the engineers).

Andrew's personal mission is to build "the best desktop app that has ever existed, full stop." If you've used the Codex app lately, you know he's not far off from that goal.

In our in-depth conversation, we discuss: 🔸 The "zone defense" model of how PMs at OpenAI operate 🔸 Why AI is so bad at design 🔸 Why Andrew thinks the Codex app would have flopped if they'd shipped it in November instead of February (same product—only the model changed) 🔸 What “taste” really means as a professional skill 🔸 How Andrew uses Codex to run his workflows 🔸 His vision for Codex + ChatGPT

Listen now 👇 https://youtu.be/P3KDebPTUrw

2h11.5K6715

BOOKMARKS21RETWEETS4REPLIES9

Lenny Rachitsky@lennysan

"When anybody can build anything, the taste to know what to build becomes the whole game." — @ajambrosino

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P3KDebPTUrw

Lenny Rachitsky@lennysan

Andrew Ambrosino (@ajambrosino) leads the team behind the Codex desktop app at @OpenAI. Codex usage has 6x'd since February, reaching over 5M weekly active users, and nearly 100% of OpenAI's employees use the Codex app regularly (and not just the engineers).

Andrew's personal mission is to build "the best desktop app that has ever existed, full stop." If you've used the Codex app lately, you know he's not far off from that goal.

In our in-depth conversation, we discuss: 🔸 The "zone defense" model of how PMs at OpenAI operate 🔸 Why AI is so bad at design 🔸 Why Andrew thinks the Codex app would have flopped if they'd shipped it in November instead of February (same product—only the model changed) 🔸 What “taste” really means as a professional skill 🔸 How Andrew uses Codex to run his workflows 🔸 His vision for Codex + ChatGPT

Listen now 👇 https://youtu.be/P3KDebPTUrw

1h8.9K4121

Dan Shipper 📧@danshipper

self recommending

Lenny Rachitsky@lennysan

Andrew Ambrosino (@ajambrosino) leads the team behind the Codex desktop app at @OpenAI. Codex usage has 6x'd since February, reaching over 5M weekly active users, and nearly 100% of OpenAI's employees use the Codex app regularly (and not just the engineers).

Andrew's personal mission is to build "the best desktop app that has ever existed, full stop." If you've used the Codex app lately, you know he's not far off from that goal.

In our in-depth conversation, we discuss: 🔸 The "zone defense" model of how PMs at OpenAI operate 🔸 Why AI is so bad at design 🔸 Why Andrew thinks the Codex app would have flopped if they'd shipped it in November instead of February (same product—only the model changed) 🔸 What “taste” really means as a professional skill 🔸 How Andrew uses Codex to run his workflows 🔸 His vision for Codex + ChatGPT

Listen now 👇 https://youtu.be/P3KDebPTUrw

1h5.6K2217

Lenny Rachitsky@lennysan

Thank you to our wonder sponsors @WorkOS and @Mercury for supporting the podcast: 🏆 @WorkOS — Make your app Enterprise Ready, with SSO, SCIM, RBAC, and more: https://workos.com/lenny 🏆 @Mercury — Radically different banking, now with Command: https://mercury.com/

Also available on: • Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/4NV2PIuSxMl7x8pOtuv5j8 • Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/openai-codex-lead-on-the-new-shape-of-product/id1627920305?i=1000774568210

Lenny Rachitsky@lennysan

Andrew Ambrosino (@ajambrosino) leads the team behind the Codex desktop app at @OpenAI. Codex usage has 6x'd since February, reaching over 5M weekly active users, and nearly 100% of OpenAI's employees use the Codex app regularly (and not just the engineers).

Andrew's personal mission is to build "the best desktop app that has ever existed, full stop." If you've used the Codex app lately, you know he's not far off from that goal.

In our in-depth conversation, we discuss: 🔸 The "zone defense" model of how PMs at OpenAI operate 🔸 Why AI is so bad at design 🔸 Why Andrew thinks the Codex app would have flopped if they'd shipped it in November instead of February (same product—only the model changed) 🔸 What “taste” really means as a professional skill 🔸 How Andrew uses Codex to run his workflows 🔸 His vision for Codex + ChatGPT

Listen now 👇 https://youtu.be/P3KDebPTUrw

2h2.8K51

Andrei Hasna@andreihasna

@lennysan @ajambrosino @OpenAI Can we have an interview with @miramurati soon?

2h19

Lenny Rachitsky@lennysan

@jxnlco in 4k

jason@jxnlco

This is the hot codex guy?!

2h1K00

Note Able@curiousgangsta

@lennysan @ajambrosino @OpenAI omg he so sexy

2h263

Justin@JustinBleuel

@lennysan @ajambrosino @OpenAI My favorite people

47m731

Lenny Rachitsky@lennysan

@andreihasna @ajambrosino @OpenAI @miramurati Let's make this happen @miramurati

2h461

SIGKITTEN@SIGKITTEN

@jxnlco i think thats the one with the kids yeah

1h341

Note Able@curiousgangsta

@jxnlco wow so seksy omg

2h181

Angel 💿🖊️@a_e_s_4

@lennysan @ajambrosino @OpenAI Need an open source model that can exist on any device. And then it can begin to contend.

2h39

Sotiris Kaniras@CastAsHuman

@lennysan @ajambrosino @OpenAI Can't wait to watch it!

2h31

Leonard Bedner@leonardbedner

@lennysan @ajambrosino @OpenAI I really have to put CC down and give Codex another go.

2h29

vincenzo@alargemike

@jxnlco no that’s me

2h28

Victor E. Nunez@nunezvice

@lennysan @ajambrosino @OpenAI oh shit @ajambrosino - you’re famous

grabbing my🍿brb

1h26

Ashirwad Singh@ashirwadsingh_

@lennysan @ajambrosino @OpenAI The desktop bet is working.

2h25

➡️ ETHVIDEO.NET@CPLACHICA

@jxnlco ☝️☝️☝️☝️☝️☝️☝️

2h19

webexpert Dev@Webexpert_tech

@lennysan @ajambrosino @OpenAI Okay

2h14

Emanuele Di Pietro@emanueledpt

@lennysan @ajambrosino @OpenAI damn his voice is sexy

1h11