Hark, founded by Figure AI CEO Brett Adcock, previews Handoff, a computer use agent it says outperforms GPT-5.4 and Opus 4.8, and plans for a summer release
Context & Ripple Effects
Hark enters a computer-use-agent race that OpenAI helped define with ChatGPT Agent's ability to control a computer and complete multi-step work. OpenAI has since broadened that work-oriented pitch through ChatGPT Work's access to context across apps and files.
Handoff matters because Hark is publicly framing its forthcoming product against named frontier models, making computer-use performance—not just conversational ability—a focal competitive claim.
First-order effects
- Hark's performance claim puts GPT-5.4 and Opus 4.8 in an explicit computer-use comparison, while Hark must convert its preview into a summer product release.
- Prospective users gain another announced option for multi-step computer work, but cannot evaluate Handoff's claimed lead until the product is available.
Second-order effects
- OpenAI's ChatGPT Work will be compared not only on cross-app context but also on the computer-use performance Hark has made central to its launch positioning.
- Anthropic and OpenAI face more pressure to substantiate agent capability through task execution as competitors use their models as public benchmarks.
Third-order effects
- If new entrants can credibly differentiate on computer-use execution, workplace-agent competition will increasingly center on agents as operating layers for tasks rather than standalone chat interfaces.
- The market's durable dividing line may shift toward verifiable task completion across software environments, with benchmark claims requiring product availability to carry weight.
The trend: AI assistants are evolving into agentic work surfaces whose competitive value is defined by executing multi-step work across existing software.