OpenAI releases GPT-5.6 and ChatGPT Work tool
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OpenAI on Thursday broadly released GPT-5.6, after staggering the powerful new model's rollout per a U.S. government request.
Why it matters: The leading players in AI are all speeding forward at breakneck speed, but the increasing power of the latest models has the Trump administration rethinking its previous hands-off approach.
Driving the news: OpenAI is releasing three flavors of GPT-5.6:
- Sol is the most powerful version, while Luna is designed for speed. Terra, meanwhile, aims to strike a balance between the two for everyday work.
- A new "ultra" mode within Sol allows the system to work even harder on tasks and to delegate work to various submodels.
- CEO Sam Altman told CNBC that Sol is 54% more token efficient on agentic coding tasks, an important stat as "every enterprise now is thinking about spend and the value they're getting in exchange for AI," he said.
Zoom in: Alongside the new models, the company also launched ChatGPT Work on Thursday.
- The new agent, powered by 5.6, can gather context across connected apps and files to create documents, spreadsheets, presentations and other work.
- It can also work across web, phones and computers, first rolling out to the Mac and Windows apps for all tiers of users, with web to follow.
The big picture: The model release comes after the administration asked OpenAI to delay its rollout.
- Altman said the company made "many changes" after a "collaborative back and forth" with the administration.
- He called the government's technical capabilities "impressive."
Friction point: OpenAI has been battling Anthropic for the crown of having the most powerful model.
- At the same time, Meta, SpaceXAI and others have been aggressively trying to catch up with the leaders. Both companies released updated models this week.
Between the lines: GPT-5.6 is already getting rave reviews from many of those who have been testing it. Some say that they see Anthropic's Fable as having greater raw intelligence, but GPT-5.6 is viewed as being a more reliable model for regular tasks.
What they're saying: MagicPath AI CEO Pietro Schirano wrote on X: "I've been testing it for months and, without exaggeration, it's the best model I've ever used. Fast, smart, genuinely creative."
- Theo Browne, CEO of chatbot platform T3 Chat, wrote on X: "gpt-5.6-sol is world-leading in computer use. It made me use it 100x more. When we lost access to 5.6, I quickly started to go insane without it."
The other side: Some who have tested both Fable and GPT-5.6 expressed a preference for Anthropic's model.
- "It's an amazing model, but for almost every task I tested, Fable was quite a bit better," investor Matt Shumer wrote on X.
- Others said they see advantages to both models. The CEO of Every, Dan Shipper, likened GPT-5 to a Porsche, while saying that Fable offers the equivalent of "warp drive."
- "If you need to get across the galaxy, use Fable," Shipper said in a post on X. "If you need to get around town using the best available tool for the job, use 5.6."
