OpenAI’s latest addition to its Codex coding tool called AI pets is as gimmicky as it sounds. Users can place floating companions on their screens while the software writes code, fixes bugs or completes tasks in the background. The pets act like status updates. A cat might signal when a task is done, while a cartoon dog may ask for user input. But behind the playful design is a bigger shift in how AI companies want people to interact with increasingly independent software.
Codex, launched in 2025, is designed to handle software tasks on its own. Unlike a chatbot that replies instantly and disappears, coding agents can keep working while users switch to emails, browsers or other apps.
Instead of a loading wheel or progress bar, OpenAI gives users something friendlier. The feature comes with eight built-in pets, including cats and dogs, but users can also design their own. Online, people have already created versions inspired by Star Wars, Harry Potter, Pokemon and Dragon Ball Z. Others have chosen political figures or nostalgic characters such as Donald Trump, Sam Altman and Microsoft’s old assistant Mr Clippy. The difference now is that modern AI assistants can actually complete meaningful tasks.
Anthropic, OpenAI’s rival, appears to understand the appeal as well. In April, users discovered a hidden feature inside its coding tool Claude Code. By typing ‘/buddy’, users can summon a small virtual creature inside the terminal window. Developers quickly nicknamed it the Tamagotchi Easter egg.
Tamagotchi Effect
The comparison fits because just like the handheld Tamagotchi pets that became hugely popular in the late 1990s, Anthropic’s buddy creates a small emotional connection. Users are not really playing with it, but the creature stays beside them while they work, slowly developing its own identity.
Technology companies have learned this lesson many times over the years that people respond better to technology that feels personal. Tamagotchi succeeded because users became emotionally attached to a few moving pixels on a screen.
AI companies now face the same challenge on a much larger scale. Modern AI agents are powerful because they can work on their own without constant supervision. But that independence can also make users uneasy. If the software is working in the background, what exactly is it doing?
Visibility Gap
The floating pet offers reassurance. An excited companion moving around the screen makes the software feel active, visible and less intimidating. This may also explain why many AI products are starting to resemble online games more than traditional office software.
There are clear benefits to this approach. Friendly, playful interfaces can make AI tools feel less overwhelming, especially for people without technical skills. OpenAI increasingly markets Codex not just to programmers but also to ordinary users who want to build apps using plain language. A cartoon pet lowers the barrier in this manner.
But there is another side to this trend. When software feels like a companion, users may forget they are interacting with highly commercial systems. A Tamagotchi only asks to be fed. An AI coding agent can access company files, workflows and large amounts of data.
The rise of AI pets also says something broader about Silicon Valley. For years, technology products aimed for clean, minimalist designs with little personality. AI products are, meanwhile, moving in the opposite direction as they are becoming more playful, expressive and emotional. On app stores, AI-powered virtual pet apps have also quietly become a growing category. Many of these apps now use large language models to create pets that can chat naturally, remember interactions and develop distinct personalities over time.
Apps such as Friends — Raise AI Companions let users raise shared AI pets like Pengu or Mellow, with some designed for couples and others positioned as study or focus companions. PetPal AI promises more lifelike movement through what it calls an “AnimalMotion AI Engine”, while apps such as Talking Cat and Talking Dog allow users to have voice conversations with animated 3D pets, keeping children hooked as parents finish their work meetings.
Both Google Play and Apple’s App Store are now crowded with variations of these AI companions, suggesting a strong demand for software that feels like a friend.
Part of this reflects the generation building these tools. Many developers grew up with Pokemon, Tamagotchi and online games, and their use is a result of nostalgia.
But it also reflects the nature of AI itself. Older software behaved predictably, so people rarely treated it like a personality. Modern AI systems are conversational and sometimes surprising. Humans naturally respond to that in social ways.
For now, the answer seems to involve cartoon animals, even political leaders if that is your preference, quietly roaming across computer screens while the AI works in the background.