What Does CUA Stand For? — Sorting Out Computer-Using Agent, Computer Use, and Computer-Use Agents

I had been seeing the word “CUA” through trycua/cua, an open-source Computer Use project, without ever checking what it stood for. While looking for an explanation, I read OpenAI's announcement “Computer-Using Agent” and finally realized CUA is short for Computer-Using Agent. OpenAI announced CUA on January 23, 2025 as a model that combines GPT-4o's vision with reasoning trained through reinforcement learning, looks at screenshots, and operates GUIs with a virtual mouse and keyboard. For anyone else using the acronym without knowing its origin, this post sorts out CUA, Computer Use, and computer-use agents.