macOS 26.810.50856: dozens of ChatGPT Computer Use processes spawn while idle, causing near-100% CPU and severe system lag

What version of the Codex App are you using (From “About Codex” dialog)?

ChatGPT 26.810.50856 Powered by Codex & OWL Released Aug 15, 2026

What subscription do you have?

ChatGPT Plus

What platform is your computer?

macOS Sonoma 14.8.9 (arm64) MacBook Pro 14-inch, 2021 Apple M1 Pro 16 GB RAM

What issue are you seeing?

After updating to ChatGPT/Codex 26.810.50856 on Aug 15, 2026, simply launching the app causes extremely high CPU usage and severe system lag, even when no Codex task or Computer Use session is running.

Activity Monitor shows dozens of separate ChatGPT Computer Use processes with unique PIDs being spawned while the app is idle. Each instance consumes approximately 4–6% CPU.

At the same time, I observed:

• ChatGPT: ~91% CPU
• Codex (Renderer): ~49% CPU
• replayd: ~35% CPU
• mds_stores: ~58% CPU
• kernel_task: ~24% CPU
• elevated tccd, trustd, syspolicyd, XProtectService, and WindowServer

CPU idle drops to approximately 0–1%.

Memory pressure also increases significantly. On this 16 GB Mac I have observed ChatGPT using approximately 3–4.5 GB RAM, compressed memory reaching 7.61 GB, and swap reaching 6.15 GB.

The Mac becomes hot, the Codex UI becomes severely laggy, and the rest of macOS also becomes less responsive.

Most importantly, I did not invoke Computer Use. The ChatGPT Computer Use processes appear automatically after launching the app.

What steps can reproduce the bug?

1. Launch ChatGPT/Codex 26.810.50856 on macOS.
2. Leave the app idle.
3. Do not start a Codex task.
4. Do not invoke Computer Use.
5. Open Activity Monitor and sort by % CPU.
6. Observe that many ChatGPT Computer Use processes with different PIDs begin appearing.
7. CPU usage rapidly increases and macOS system processes such as replayd, tccd, trustd, syspolicyd, mds_stores, and kernel_task also become active.

The issue is reproducible immediately after launching the app.

What is the expected behavior?

When ChatGPT/Codex is idle and Computer Use has not been invoked:

• ChatGPT Computer Use helper processes should not continuously spawn.
• CPU usage should remain low.
• Memory and swap usage should remain stable.
• macOS system services should not be repeatedly triggered.
• The Mac should remain responsive and at normal temperature.

Additional information

This behavior started immediately after updating to version 26.810.50856 on Aug 15, 2026.

Quitting ChatGPT stops the abnormal process activity.

The behavior strongly resembles a ChatGPT Computer Use helper process respawn/restart loop. The many instances shown in Activity Monitor are separate processes with different PIDs, not threads of a single process.

I have attached screenshots showing:

1. ChatGPT at ~91% CPU, Codex Renderer at ~49% CPU, and replayd at ~35% CPU.
2. Dozens of simultaneous ChatGPT Computer Use processes with unique PIDs.
3. High memory pressure / compressed memory / swap usage.
4. The affected app version: 26.810.50856.

I can provide process samples, spindump, sysdiagnose, or Codex logs if needed.

No source file or test is identified. Start by reproducing the idle-launch behavior on macOS with Codex App 26.810.50856 and inspect how ChatGPT Computer Use helper processes are started and respawned; done means idle launches no longer create repeated helpers, CPU and memory remain stable, and the app stays responsive.