A new version of OpenAI’s Codex is powered by a new dedicated chip
Source: TechCrunch
Announcement
On Thursday, OpenAI announced the release of a light‑weight version of its agentic coding tool Codex, the latest model of which OpenAI launched earlier this month. GPT‑5.3‑Codex‑Spark is described by the company as a “smaller version” of that model, designed for faster inference. To power that inference, OpenAI has brought in a dedicated chip from its hardware partner Cerebras, marking a new level of integration in the company’s physical infrastructure.
Partnership Details
The partnership between Cerebras and OpenAI was announced last month, when OpenAI said it had reached a multi‑year agreement with the firm worth over $10 billion. “Integrating Cerebras into our mix of compute solutions is all about making our AI respond much faster,” the company said at the time. OpenAI now calls Spark the “first milestone” in that relationship.
Technical Specs
Spark, which OpenAI says is designed for swift, real‑time collaboration and “rapid iteration,” will be powered by Cerebras’ Wafer Scale Engine 3 (WSE‑3). The WSE‑3 is Cerebras’ third‑generation waferscale megachip, equipped with 4 trillion transistors. OpenAI describes the new lightweight tool as a “daily productivity driver, helping users with rapid prototyping” rather than the longer, heavier tasks that the original 5.3 is designed for. Spark is currently available as a research preview for ChatGPT Pro users in the Codex app.
CEO Tweet
In a tweet ahead of the announcement, CEO Sam Altman hinted at the new model:
“We have a special thing launching to Codex users on the Pro plan later today. It sparks joy for me.”
Official Statement
OpenAI emphasized Spark as designed for the lowest possible latency on Codex.
“Codex‑Spark is the first step toward a Codex that works in two complementary modes: real‑time collaboration when you want rapid iteration, and long‑running tasks when you need deeper reasoning and execution.”
The company added that Cerebras’ chips excel at assisting “workflows that demand extremely low latency.”
Cerebras Background
Cerebras has been around for over a decade, but in the AI era it has taken on an increasingly prominent role in the tech industry. Just last week, the company announced that it had raised $1 billion in fresh capital at a valuation of $23 billion. Cerebras has previously announced its intentions to pursue an IPO.
Quote from Cerebras
“What excites us most about GPT‑5.3‑Codex‑Spark is partnering with OpenAI and the developer community to discover what fast inference makes possible — new interaction patterns, new use cases, and a fundamentally different model experience,” said Sean Lie, CTO and Co‑Founder of Cerebras. “This preview is just the beginning.”
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