The company said the new tools are designed to make voice-based apps more useful in everyday situations, especially where users need software to respond naturally while carrying out tasks in real time.

At the centre of the launch is GPT-Realtime-2, a voice model OpenAI says can handle more difficult requests while keeping conversations flowing naturally.

Unlike earlier versions, the company said the model uses GPT-5-level reasoning to manage interruptions, understand context better and carry out actions during conversations.

OpenAI also unveiled GPT-Realtime-Translate, a live translation model that can translate speech from more than 70 input languages into 13 output languages.

According to the company, the system keeps pace with the speaker during conversations instead of translating after pauses or completed sentences.

The third model, GPT-Realtime-Whisper, focuses on live speech transcription. It converts spoken words into text instantly while a person is talking.

“Together, the models we are launching move real-time audio from simple call-and-response toward voice interfaces that can actually do work: listen, reason, translate, transcribe, and take action as a conversation unfolds,” OpenAI said.

Voice products have become a huge focus for technology companies as more users interact with software through speech instead of typing. OpenAI said developers want systems that can manage tasks while conversations continue naturally.

The company pointed to customer support, travel, education, media and creator platforms as some of the areas expected to benefit from the new models.

OpenAI also described three growing patterns it sees in voice-based software.

The first is “voice-to-action”, where users speak naturally and the system completes tasks on their behalf. OpenAI said property platform Zillow is building an assistant that can help users search for homes, avoid certain neighbourhood conditions and book tours through voice requests.

Another pattern is “systems-to-voice”, where software provides spoken updates automatically. OpenAI gave the example of travel apps that could alert passengers about delayed flights, new boarding gates or transfer routes without users typing commands.

The third area is “voice-to-voice”, which focuses on live multilingual conversations. OpenAI said Deutsche Telekom is developing customer support systems that translate discussions instantly while both sides continue speaking in their preferred languages.

Travel company Priceline is also working on voice-based trip management tools, according to OpenAI. Travellers could eventually book flights, change hotel reservations and receive airport updates entirely through conversation.

Alongside the broader rollout, OpenAI added several new features to GPT-Realtime-2 aimed at improving live interactions.

Developers can now enable short phrases such as “let me check that” or “one moment while I look into it” before the system completes a request. OpenAI said this gives users clearer feedback while the model processes tasks in the background.

The model can also call multiple tools at once and explain those actions aloud during conversations. OpenAI said the system may say things like “checking your calendar” or “looking that up now” while working through requests.

The company added that GPT-Realtime-2 recovers better from errors or failed requests instead of stopping conversations abruptly. It also supports a larger context window, increasing from 32K to 128K, allowing longer and more detailed conversations.

OpenAI further noted that the model has improved understanding of specialised terms, including healthcare vocabulary and proper nouns. Developers can also adjust how much reasoning power the model uses depending on the complexity of a request.

According to benchmark figures released by the company, GPT-Realtime-2 achieved higher scores than GPT-Realtime-1.5 on audio intelligence and instruction-following tests.

All three models are available through OpenAI’s Realtime API. The company said GPT-Realtime-Translate and GPT-Realtime-Whisper will be billed by the minute, while GPT-Realtime-2 pricing depends on token usage.

OpenAI said it has added safeguards to reduce misuse, including protections against spam, fraud and harmful content. The company also added that conversations can be stopped automatically if they break its safety rules.

The project is still in its early stages but people familiar with the matter say it may take months before it is ready.

Engineers at OpenAI began exploring the idea after repeated service disruptions on GitHub in recent months disrupted their work. Those outages forced internal teams to reassess how much they rely on external platforms.

From what has been reported, OpenAI has discussed offering the repository as a paid service to its existing customers. That would place it in direct competition with GitHub, which is owned by Microsoft.

Neither OpenAI nor Microsoft has publicly confirmed the plan. The companies did not respond to requests for comment at the time of publication.

If OpenAI moves forward, the decision would test its relationship with Microsoft. The software giant is one of OpenAI’s biggest backers and also controls GitHub, which serves more than 100 million developers worldwide. A competing product from OpenAI would be a rare overlap in their commercial interests.

In February 2026, OpenAI closed a $110 billion funding round that valued the company at $840 billion. Investors in that raise included Amazon, Nvidia and SoftBank.

The deal stands among the largest private capital raises to date and places OpenAI ahead of competitors such as Anthropic and Inflection in valuation terms.

For now, the proposed platform is still under development, with OpenAI still weighing whether to build more of its own infrastructure rather than depend on tools owned by partners.

Coding has become the most commercially valuable use of advanced models. Whoever controls the developer workflow stands to win enterprise contracts. Right now, OpenAI is focusing on that aspect.

For months, developers have been shifting towards tools that can handle long, messy jobs without constant supervision. These systems can break work into parts, run tasks at the same time and keep going for hours or days. 

OpenAI’s earlier Codex releases worked, but they were awkward. Many users went elsewhere.

The new app is meant to change that. It gives developers a single desktop space to oversee several coding agents at once, switch between projects without losing context and review changes before they touch the main codebase. 

Each agent works in isolation, which reduces the risk of conflicts. The company is also pushing Codex beyond writing lines of code.

The app can now be used to gather information, run workflows, generate documents and even deploy software, all from the same interface. 

Developers can define specific “skills” that tell Codex how to interact with tools they already use, from design software to cloud hosting platforms. Once set up, those skills can be reused across teams.

This approach shows how modern development actually works. Software has gone beyond typing code. It involves design, testing, deployment, bug tracking and documentation. OpenAI is trying to sit at the centre of that entire process.

There is also a commercial angle. OpenAI says Codex will, for a limited time, be included for users on its free and low-cost plans, while usage limits are being raised for paid customers.

This could pull more developers into its ecosystem and slow the focus on competitors.

Anthropic’s Claude Code has built a strong following and, by the company’s own account, reached an annualised revenue run rate of $1 billion within six months of launch.

That kind of figure gets attention and OpenAI’s response has been to tighten its tooling and lean on the strength of its latest coding model.

Speaking to reporters, OpenAI chief executive Sam Altman argued that the underlying technology now needs a better wrapper. “If you really want to do sophisticated work on something complex, 5.2 is the strongest model by far,” he said.

“However, it’s been harder to use, so taking that level of model capability and putting it in a more flexible interface, we think is going to matter quite a bit.”

Tests that measure how well systems handle command-line tasks or fix real software bugs show little separation between the leading tools. Usually, developers care less about marginal scores and more about whether a tool fits their workflow and saves time.

That is where OpenAI is aiming. The Codex app allows background automations to run on a schedule, flagging results for review later. Users can also choose how the agent communicates, from blunt and task-focused to more conversational.

These may sound like small details, but they determine whether people stick with a tool day after day.

Altman noted the advantage as speed. “You can use this from a clean sheet of paper, brand new, to make a really quite sophisticated piece of software in a few hours,” he said. “As fast as I can type in new ideas, that is the limit of what can get built.”

Not everyone believes these tools are ready to replace human developers, and OpenAI does not claim they are. What they do is remove drudge work and compress timelines. In a tight labour market, that alone is valuable.

For now, the OpenAI Codex desktop app is only available on macOS, with a Windows version promised later. The company says usage has already surged since the release of its latest coding model, with more than a million developers using Codex in the past month.

Selected developers will receive a $500 voucher to build with the X API and gain early access to a revamped Developer Console, which aims for a more flexible and transparent experience. “We are expanding a closed beta to both new & power users who want to ship amazing apps on X,” the platform’s developer account posted.

The new model breaks away from X’s previous flat-rate structure by introducing granular pricing for various request types, including reading posts, sending direct messages, accessing trends, and pulling bookmarks. 

A built-in calculator now allows developers to estimate costs based on projected usage, a move the company says will help teams manage their spending with greater precision.

Unlike the old tiered system, which offered Basic ($200 per month), Pro ($5,000 per month), and Enterprise ($42,000 per month) plans, the pay-per-use framework is designed for a wider spectrum of developers, from startups to large-scale enterprises.

Many in the community had previously criticised the old model for being unaffordable and inflexible, particularly after X ended free API access in 2023.

That decision led to the shutdown of several popular third-party apps such as Tweetbot and Twitterrific, further affecting relations between X and its developer base. In a bid to ease some of that tension, the company later introduced top-up packs for developers who exceeded their usage limits.

Now, with this usage-based system, X appears keen to reposition itself as a platform that supports innovation rather than restricts it. Developers selected for the beta will be among the first to test the updated tools and pricing structure before a wider rollout.

Analysts say the pay-per-use API beta could help revive developer engagement on the platform, allowing X to compete more effectively with companies like Reddit, Discord, and Mastodon, all of which offer comparatively accessible API frameworks.

Developers have long had challenges with slow performance, limited form handling, and inconsistent behaviour across browsers when building web PDF tools. 

Foxit’s latest product tackles these issues by employing a modular architecture and a WebAssembly-powered rendering engine. This combination speeds up document processing by up to 50% and also enables smoother, more secure workflows for digital signatures and form interactions.

“This release is more than just a feature update. It’s a signal that the future of document technology is modular, browser-native, and built for intelligent automation,” said Evan Reiss, vice president and head of marketing at Foxit. 

“As organisations move away from legacy systems and toward AI-enabled, cloud-first architectures, developers need toolkits that are fast, flexible, and built for the way we work today. With PDF SDK for Web v11, Foxit is leading that shift — and raising the bar for what’s expected from online PDF experiences.”

Key improvements include a refactored form module with unified APIs, enabling developers to build robust and scalable applications faster. The redesigned signature workflow offers a more secure and intuitive signing process, crucial for compliance and reducing bottlenecks in document handling. 

Additionally, the migration of PDF JavaScript execution to Web Workers, rebuilt in C++/WebAssembly, enhances responsiveness and stabilises user interactions even on complex PDFs.

Beyond performance gains, the SDK features upgraded user interface components designed for consistency across devices and browsers, delivering an accessible and modern experience to end users.

This release aligns with the global movement away from bulky, legacy PDF solutions toward lightweight, cloud-ready, and intelligent document technologies. 

Foxit’s PDF SDK for Web v11 provides developers with the tools to build web-first PDF applications that meet evolving demands without relying on desktop software.

Businesses are adopting AI-ready, cloud-first platforms and Foxit’s latest SDK is a huge innovation in the space. Competitors still leveraging outdated models risk lagging behind in the advancing digital document sector.

While 80% of side hustlers say they just want to earn more, others are driven by a deeper urge of freedom, ownership, and the chance to create on their own terms. 

Nonetheless, only 34% of job seekers in tech actively work on side projects, despite the fact that hiring managers are scanning portfolios and GitHub pages before they even look at your CV.

In our Macro Monday discussion today, we’re not recycling vague advice. These are practical, field-tested projects people are using right now to build wealth, gain skills, and land roles. Smart work that pays off.

Project Categories at a Glance

To make it easier, we’ve grouped these into four core types:

• Build Something Useful – Tools, products, or platforms
• Create & Share Content – Blogs, tutorials, newsletters
• Offer a Service – Freelance, contract, consulting
• Use Smart Tools – AI-powered or automated hacks

You don’t need to pick one lane. In fact, over 50% of side hustlers juggle three or more projects. Let’s dive in.

10 Side Projects Worth Your Time

1. Build a Chrome Extension That Solves One Frustrating Problem

What it is: Identify a pain point (e.g. LinkedIn limits, auto-refresh for crypto trackers), then create a small extension that fixes it.
Monetisation: Offer a free version, then upsell features.
Real example: Many developers have built Chrome tools that now passively earn them hundreds monthly via Gumroad.
Start here: Learn the basic Chrome APIs, use JavaScript, and publish to the Web Store.

2. Turn Your Resume into a One-Page Portfolio Site

What it is: Convert your CV into a personal webpage showcasing work, skills, links, and testimonials.
Job impact: Instant credibility. Recruiters Google you; give them something to find.
Visibility: Include GitHub links, project demos, or blog posts.
Start here: Use templates from tools like Framer or Notion, or host a static site via GitHub Pages.

3. Write a Weekly Newsletter in Your Niche

What it is: Share insights, curations, or experiments in tech, design, or writing.
Monetisation: After building a subscriber base, offer sponsorships or premium content.
Job angle: Writing forces clarity and attracts employers who care about communication.
Start here: Substack, Beehiiv, or even LinkedIn Newsletters.

4. Contribute to an Open Source Project

What it is: Improve, document, or bug-fix public codebases.
Credibility: Shows team skills, code quality, and real-world impact.
Networking: Maintainers and contributors often refer each other for jobs.
Start here: Use GitHub’s “Good First Issue” label to onboard quickly.

5. Build and Sell Notion or Figma Templates

What it is: Create digital templates people can use for productivity, design, or content planning.
Income: List them on marketplaces or your own site. Some sellers earn $500–$2,000/month.
No code needed: Just good design thinking and problem solving.
Start here: Browse the most downloaded templates, then create your own twist.

6. Join and Win a Hackathon (Even a Virtual One)

What it is: Build a product or prototype over a few days with a team or solo.
Value: Recognition, cash prizes, and sometimes direct job offers.
Resume boost: Demonstrates speed, collaboration, and initiative.
Start here: Sites like Devpost, MLH, and AngelHack list ongoing events globally.

7. Start a Micro SaaS That Solves a Niche Problem

What it is: A simple subscription-based tool built for a narrow audience.
Earnings: Many devs earn $1k–$5k/month from solo tools.
Scalability: Low overhead, high leverage.
Start here: Solve a workflow issue in your industry. Build in public for feedback.

8. Create an Open Source API Wrapper

What it is: Wrap a complex or poorly documented API (e.g. government data, crypto, niche SaaS) into something easier to use.
Impact: Developers appreciate great wrappers—your repo might go viral.
Job bonus: Shows backend and API fluency, which hiring managers love.
Start here: Pick an API, write the wrapper, document it clearly, and share.

9. Design and Sell Developer-Themed Merchandise

What it is: Funny t-shirts, coding mugs, niche stickers, even physical zines.
Earnings: Print-on-demand means zero upfront costs.
Branding: Build a small community and turn it into a brand.
Start here: Use Teespring or Redbubble, promote on Reddit or Dev.to.

10. Launch a Free Tool That Solves a Micro-Pain

What it is: A tiny website, calculator, or widget that does one thing well.
Why it works: Low barrier to build, high value if done right.
Examples: Colour palette generators, Markdown previewers, habit trackers.
Start here: Identify what you Google for regularly, then build it yourself.

Bonus: Stack Your Side Projects

One side project can turn into a whole ecosystem. Your Chrome extension gets you newsletter subscribers. Your newsletter feeds into your micro SaaS. Your micro SaaS becomes your main income.

This is how people are building tech careers that don’t depend entirely on job boards or HR filters. It’s all about creating your own momentum.

Just Start

Most people overthink this. You don’t need VC funding or perfect skills. You just need to start.

In 2025, spending 11–16 hours per week on a side project can translate into $16–23/hour or even more over time. For those of us in regions like Sub-Saharan Africa, where online gig work is becoming more common, this isn’t just a trend, it’s a strategy and a growth path to thrive.

Choose one idea. Build fast. Ship often. You never know which project will open the next door.

Which of these projects are you most likely to start? Hit reply, comment, or share it with someone who’s stuck. Your future job, or income stream, might be waiting on the other side of a weekend build.

Launched in 2017, Instant Apps were designed to let people launch lightweight versions of Android apps without installing them. Tapping a supported link would trigger an immediate app experience, no downloads, no delays. 

For users, it aimed to bring convenience and for developers, it offered better visibility. But eight years on, it’s obvious the feature didn’t live up to expectations.

A warning spotted in the latest Android Studio build triggered the news. “Instant Apps support will be removed by Google Play in December 2025. Publishing and all Google Play Instant APIs will no longer work. Tooling support will be removed in Android Studio Otter Feature Drop.”

This tucked into a corner of Android Studio, confirmed what many developers had suspected: Instant Apps is on the chopping block.

Google’s decision wasn’t widely announced in the usual way. Instead, the company quietly confirmed the move when pressed. “Usage and engagement of Instant Apps have been low, and developers are leveraging other tools for app discovery such as AI-powered app highlights and simultaneous app installs,” said Google spokesperson Nia Carter. 

“This change allows us to invest more in the tools that are working well for developers, and help direct users to full app downloads to foster deeper engagement.”

In practical terms, Instant Apps never caught on because they demanded more effort than most developers were willing to invest. Apps had to be trimmed to under 15MB, a tight constraint for modern mobile applications bloated with media, libraries, and complex logic. As a result, only a handful of services like Vimeo and Wish ever fully embraced it.

What’s more, Google’s own disinterest in the feature became apparent. The company hadn’t made any significant updates to the platform in years, noting an internal change in priorities. 

Its official developer documentation hasn’t been revised to reflect the upcoming deprecation, a silence that reiterates how marginal Instant Apps had become in Google’s ecosystem.

Now, with the final nail in the coffin scheduled for December, developers still using the feature will need to transition. Google is doubling down on web-based app discovery, simultaneous app installs, and new engagement tools within the Play Store.

Most Android users didn’t notice the feature existed in the first place, and most developers quietly moved on years ago.

This revenue stream, revealed at the WWDC 2025, comes from three main areas, including consumer subscriptions, business clients using ChatGPT Enterprise, and developers tapping into its API. 

Again, the number does not include any licensing money from Microsoft or the company’s larger one-off enterprise deals, according to a company spokesperson.

In less than 36 months, OpenAI has grown from a disruptive newcomer to a tech king. Last year, it reported $5.5 billion in recurring revenue, but today, that number has doubled. 

Nonetheless, the company burned through approximately $5 billion in 2024 alone, so its growth wasn’t cheap. It paid for scale; recruiting top talent, buying computing power, and continuously improving the products that drive the company’s appeal.

While OpenAI hasn’t published its operating costs in full, we know the firm is aiming big. Its goals include a revenue target of $125 billion by 2029, an aggressive pursuit of authority across the market.

Earlier this year, OpenAI closed a $40 billion funding round, still the largest private technology deal ever recorded. At a valuation nearly 30 times its current revenue, expectations are sky-high. 

The company counts Microsoft, SoftBank, Coatue, Altimeter and Thrive among its key backers. These are investors used to backing winners and pushing for aggressive returns.

Since launching ChatGPT for consumers in late 2022, OpenAI has expanded fast. Business tools followed in 2023, and the user base hasn’t stopped growing. 

As of March 2025, more than 500 million people were using OpenAI’s tools weekly. The number of paying business customers has hit 3 million, climbing from 2 million in February.

Internally, the growth is celebrated, but the pressure is equally intense. OpenAI’s model requires constant investment, cash, computing power, and talent. Every expansion move must be backed with infrastructure that can keep pace with demand.

Even with the success, profitability is not certain and the company has not confirmed if it’s near breaking even. 

The announcement came during the Build 2025 conference, where the company revealed a comprehensive strategy aimed at strengthening its relationship with app creators and modernising its digital storefront.

Previously, developers had to pay a registration fee, around $19, before they could publish to the Microsoft Store. With this new policy, the cost attached is being removed entirely. 

While seemingly a small figure, this means Microsoft is making it easier for independent developers to access its ecosystem and reach its base of over 250 million monthly active users.

Apple still demands $99 annually for App Store participation, while Google requires a $25 one-time fee for Google Play. In contrast, Microsoft is removing entry fees and also improving the developer experience with a set of practical updates.

First, Microsoft is revamping how Win32 applications, legacy apps that use .EXE or .MSI installers, interact with the store. Developers can now push updates directly through the Microsoft Store infrastructure, ending the need for users to rely on third-party update prompts. 

The Store will also begin showing when apps were last updated and introduce a non-interactive progress bar for installations, two features long requested by developers.

Added to these, Microsoft is introducing tools like App campaigns, which are designed to help developers promote their apps directly within the Store. While some major applications, such as Google Chrome and Google Drive, remain absent, new entries like Fantastical, Perplexity, and ChatGPT have recently been added. Notion is expected to join them soon.

Microsoft clarified that while onboarding is now free, the Store’s commerce fees remain unchanged. Developers using Microsoft’s payment infrastructure will still pay 15% on app sales and 12% for games. Those using external payment systems will continue to retain 100% of their revenue for non-gaming apps.

I see this as a calculated and timely initiative. The legal and public pressure on Apple’s closed system is growing, and Microsoft is seizing the moment to present itself as the more open and developer-friendly alternative.

The company pointed developers to a Build session titled “Boost Your App’s Success with the Latest Microsoft Store Features” for more insights. Microsoft wants developers on its side, and it’s willing to meet them halfway.

This new tool, available at no extra cost, will replace the existing Assistants API, which will be discontinued by mid-2026.

The Responses API enables developers to integrate OpenAI’s built-in tools into their applications, making it easier to create AI agents that can perform tasks independently. 

Unlike the previous, it offers enhanced flexibility, allowing developers to incorporate web search, file search, and computer use functionalities without needing multiple integrations.

The release of these tools comes as competition in the AI sector gets hotter, particularly with emerging Chinese startups. Monica, a Chinese AI company, recently launched Manus, an autonomous AI agent that claims to outperform OpenAI’s DeepResearch agent. 

Monica also announced a partnership with the developers of Alibaba’s Qwen AI models, further expanding its reach in the sector.

OpenAI acknowledged that many developers face challenges in building production-ready AI applications due to complex integration processes. The company stated: “Customers have shared that turning these capabilities into production-ready agents can be challenging, often requiring extensive prompt iteration and custom orchestration logic without sufficient visibility or built-in support.”

The Responses API aims to address these issues by simplifying agent logic, improving orchestration, and making AI interactions more efficient. 

OpenAI has also introduced an Agents SDK to help developers coordinate single-agent and multi-agent workflows. Added to these, observability tools have been integrated to provide better insights into agent performance.

With these enhancements, OpenAI hopes to maintain its competitive edge, particularly as international AI firms are building technology at lower costs.