Breaking Apple's lock screen restrictions, OpenAI is testing remote control of Mac sleep via mobile phones

According to Beating Monitoring, OpenAI appears to be trying to break the biggest pain point of remote desktop AI control. According to TestingCatalog, OpenAI is developing a new capability for Codex, with the goal of allowing AI to continue operating software in the background even when the Mac is locked or in sleep mode.

Previously, every vendor’s interface control feature had a hard flaw: the computer had to be unlocked and the screen must be on for the AI to view the display and simulate keyboard and mouse clicks. The leak says the new feature is intended to address this shortcoming. If it rolls out successfully, when users use their phones to remotely test or check data for their home Codex while on the go, they will no longer need to walk back to the computer to physically “unlock” the screen. In addition, OpenAI is also testing cross-device interconnection, which in the future will allow the primary device to directly remote-control the Mac Mini running Codex.

Currently, whether it’s the existing Codex or competing Claude Code, both are similarly limited once the system is locked. But trying to keep the system active by having the AI bypass the lock-screen password from within the system clearly challenges the default security defense expectations of macOS. This aggressive low-level attempt to overstep is very likely to trigger official intervention and review by Apple in the future.