ChatGPT is about to become faster and more interactive OpenAI upgrades it Major Model GPT-5 Up to GPT-5.1.
OpenAI announced Two updates to the GPT-5 series: GPT-5.1 Instant and GPT-5.1 Thinking. Both models are now available on ChatGPT.
GPT-5.1 Instant, essentially the default and most commonly used model, is now “hotter, more intelligent, and better at following your instructions.” Meanwhile, GPT-5.1 Thinking is an advanced reasoning model that responds faster to simple tasks yet reacts more strongly to complex tasks.
“We’ve heard clearly from users that great AI must not only be smart, but also enjoyable to talk to,” OpenAI said in a blog post. “GPT-5.1 makes meaningful improvements in both intelligence and communication style.”
The company said both models provide a way for users to “shape the tone of ChatGPT”, allowing people to control how the chat platform responds based on their conversations.
Both models launched for ChatGate users, including Pro, Plus, Go and Business users and then a free tier. Those with Enterprise and Edu plans will get a seven-day early-access toggle for the model before GPT-5.1 becomes the default model. OpenAI said the models could also be accessible through an API with customized logic.
OpenAI notes that it will soon update GPT-5 Pro to version 5.1.
quick and thinking model
The upgraded models, OpenAI said, reflect improvements over the 5.1 tag base model and consider them part of the GPT-5 family, trained on the same stack and data as its logic models. The biggest difference between 5.1 and 5 is its more natural and conversational tone, said Fidzi Simo, OpenAI CEO of the application. Post,
“Based on early testing, it often surprises people with its versatility while remaining clear and useful,” OpenAI said in its blog post.
Instant can use adaptive reasoning to help it decide when to think about its answers first, especially for more complex questions. OpenAI noted that it has improved instruction following, so that the model continues to respond faster, but will still actually answer the user’s query.
Recent model releases, such as BaiduThinking of ERNIE-4.5-VL-28B-A3B, Outperforming GPT-5 In the benchmark like following instructions.
GPT-5.1 thinking can itself figure out how much reasoning power it should apply to a signal. It adapts to the type and complexity of a query, so it will take longer to answer a full, complex question than a simple summary request.
OpenAI said the evaluation showed that GPT-5.1 spends less time thinking and therefore uses fewer tokens on simple tasks than GPT-5, outperforming the base model in terms of response speed.
One thing enterprises should keep in mind is that GPT-5.1 Thinking provides answers “with less jargon and less undefined terms.” OpenAI said that removing jargon responses makes ThinkCentre more accessible when it comes to explaining technical concepts.
more personalization
Another big update to ChatGPT is increased personalization. This allows users to toggle between a friendly and official chat platform experience in their conversations.
ChatGPT already allows users to choose preset options for the model’s tone, but the new update expands these options “to better reflect the most common ways people use ChatGPT.”
These options include: Default, Friendly (formerly Listener), Efficient (formerly Robot), Professional, Candid, and Bizarre. The two other personalities, Cynical and Nerdy, are unchanged.
“We think many people will find that GPT-5.1 does a better job of bringing together IQ and EQ, but a default obviously can’t meet everyone’s needs. That’s why we’re also making it easier to customize ChatGPT with a range of presets to choose from: professional, friendly, candid, quirky, efficient, cynical, and nerdy. The model has the same capabilities whether you select the default or one of these options, but its responses The style will vary – more formal or familiar, more playful or direct, more or less jargon or slang, and so on. Of course, the eight personalities still don’t cover the full range of human diversity, but we know from our research that many people prefer simple, guided control over lots of settings or open-ended options,” Simo said.
People can also adjust how much ChatGPT uses emojis. It also offers granular control for reactions, with OpenAI experimenting with the ability to make models more concise, warm, or scannable.
Saving the rollout
OpenAI’s GPT-5 rollout was…less than perfectWhile company executives, including CEO Sam Altman, praised the capabilities of the new models, the decision to initially discontinue older and beloved models at ChatGPAT led to dissatisfaction among customers, Worse, many early adopters found that GPT-5 performed no better than those older alternatives in domains like math, science, and writing,
This caused Altman to retract some of his statements regarding the removal of the model, and attributed performance issues on GPT-5’s routers. The router, which automatically directs queries to the model best suited for it, isn’t going away as GPT-5.1 will auto route signals to the model type that can best answer it.
OpenAI is careful to note that the GPT-5 models Instant, Thinking, and Pro are still available in ChatGPT’s models dropdown, although paid customers only have three months to compare these older versions with the 5.1 update. However, the expiration of GPT-5 will not affect models like GPT-4o.
“Moving forward, as we introduce new ChatGPAT models, our approach is to give people ample space to evaluate changes and share feedback, so we can continue to innovate our Frontier model while making a smooth transition,” the company said. “The duration of sunset will be communicated clearly and with advance notice.”