Meet Yash Kumar, the IIITan behind ChatGPT’s Agent that brings AI out of your screen into real life

OpenAI’s latest AI tool, ChatGPT Agent, is being developed under the leadership of Yash Kumar, a Member of Technical Staff at the company. Yash, who is also the product lead for the project, demonstrated the tool’s capabilities during a recent briefing with The Verge. ChatGPT Agent functions like a virtual computer and can perform a wide range of tasks, from managing calendars and summarising meetings to planning meals.

Indian engineer heads key OpenAI product

Yash Kumar studied Computer Science at IIIT Hyderabad, one of India’s top engineering institutions. He joined OpenAI in November 2023 and now works out of the company’s San Francisco headquarters. At OpenAI, Yash is leading the development of ChatGPT Agent, a tool that extends beyond the browser to interact with an entire virtual operating system.

“Optimising for hard tasks”

Speaking to The Verge, Yash said the team is now focused on “optimising for hard tasks” so that users have a smoother experience. The product is designed to carry out digital tasks while still checking with the user before performing critical actions like sending emails or booking appointments.

The system can run tasks in the background, allowing users to return to completed work later. Isa Fulford, who leads research on the project, said, “Even if it takes 15 minutes, half an hour, it’s quite a big speed-up compared to how long it would take you to do it. It’s one of those things where you can kick something off in the background and then come back to it.”

Strong safeguards built in

OpenAI has built strong security safeguards into the ChatGPT Agent system. These protections were originally developed for handling models with “high biological and chemical capabilities.” The company stated there is currently no “direct evidence that the model could meaningfully help a novice create severe biological or chemical harm.”

Earlier this year, AI company Anthropic activated similar safeguards while launching Opus 4, part of its Claude model line. Like OpenAI, Anthropic said safety remains a priority as AI systems gain more advanced capabilities.