OpenAI releases GPT-5.5, bringing company one step closer to an AI ‘superapp’

OpenAI on Thursday released GPT-5.5the latest AI model, which the company calls the “smartest and most intuitive to use model” yet. The algorithm offers improved capabilities in a wide range of areas, with OpenAI co-founder and president Greg Brockman claiming it also brings the company one step closer to creating OpenAI’s ‘super app’.

On a call with reporters, Brockman said the new model was a major advance “toward more agentic and intuitive computing.”

“This model is a real step forward toward the kind of computing we expect in the future – but it’s one step, and we expect to see many more in the future,” said Brockman. “It’s a faster, sharper thinker for fewer tokens compared to something like 5.4. So this just means there’s more frontier AI available for businesses and for consumers, which is part of our goal.”

Brockman also said the model was an additional step in the direction create a “super app”. – a multi-functional Swiss army knife of a program – the launch of which Brockman and co-founder Sam Altman previously discussed. The co-founders in mind combining ChatGPT, Codex and AI browser into one unified service that can help business customers. The ‘super app’ concept is striking also a hot topic with Altman rival (and former OpenAI colleague) Elon Musk, who has said he wants to turn X (formerly Twitter) into his own so-called super app.

OpenAI only released its latest model last month, with an earlier release in December and before that in November. The company has continued to produce new models at a rapid pace, a trend that company officials say is expected to continue for the foreseeable future. “We’re seeing quite significant improvements in the short term, extremely significant improvements in the medium term,” said Jakub Pachocki, OpenAI’s chief scientist. “Actually, I would say I think the last two years have been surprisingly slow.”

According to OpenAI, GPT-5.5 is designed to be useful in a wide range of categories, including fundamental enterprise areas such as agentic coding and knowledge work, as well as more experimental AI applications such as mathematics and scientific research. The company also released data Thursday showing the model’s superior performance across a range of benchmarks. Compared to its previous models, and to models from competitors Google and Anthropic (such as Gemini 3.1 Pro and Claude Opus 4.5), 5.5 scores consistently higher, according to OpenAI.

OpenAI’s rivalry with Anthropic is never far from discussion, and GPT-5.5 offered another chance for the two companies to compare themselves against each other. One reporter asked during the press conference whether GPT 5.5. is said to have capabilities similar to Mythos, the cybersecurity tool recently announced by Anthropic. (Mythos has faced controversy in recent days over a report of unauthorized access to the program.) Mia Glaese, a member of OpenAI’s technical staff, said GPT-5.5 would have a significant impact on the company’s approach to deploying its models for digital defense. “We have a strong and long-standing strategy for our approach to cyber, and we have refined a sustainable approach to deploying models securely,” said Glaese.

Mark Chen, head of research at OpenAI, said GPT-5.5 was better at navigating computing than its predecessors, and also said the model “demonstrates meaningful gains in scientific and engineering research workflows,” noting that the company thinks it could really “help expert scientists make progress.” Chen also said it could help in drug discovery, an area that has seen increasing industry interest in recent years.

GPT 5.5. will be available everywhere from Thursday, according to OpenAI. The company says the model is rolling out to Plus, Pro, Business, and Enterprise users in ChatGPT, while 5.5 Pro is on its way to Pro, Business, and Enterprise users.