OpenAI Launches GPT-5.1 with Enhanced Personalities and Conversational Abilities

OpenAI's GPT-5.1 makes ChatGPT 'warmer' and smarter - how its upgraded modes work now

OpenAI's GPT-5.1 includes two brand-new models. It offers new personalities to choose from.The updates are meant to make ChatGPT more personalized. OpenAI updated ChatGPT with its highly-anticipated GPT-5 model over the summer, which was supposed to streamline the user experience by making the chatbot automatically pick the right model based on the input query. However, people immediately missed the ability to personalize the experience to their needs -- and this GPT 5.1 release promises to bring that choice back. On Wednesday, OpenAI upgraded its GPT-5 series of models in ChatGPT to include two brand-new models: GPT-5 Instant and GPT-5.1 Thinking. These models aim to make using ChatGPT a more seamless experience, featuring what OpenAI said are "smarter" and "warmer" conversations. Also: OpenAI says it's working toward catastrophe or utopia - just not sure which This release was also accompanied by new customization tools and additional personalities for the chatbot. For the full roundup of new features, keep reading below. (Disclosure: Ziff Davis, ZDNET's parent company, filed an April 2025 lawsuit against OpenAI, alleging it infringed Ziff Davis copyrights in training and operating its AI systems.) When interacting with ChatGPT daily, most of your prompts will likely be relatively simple in nature and, therefore, not require extensive reasoning. As a result, GPT-5.1 is OpenAI's most widely used model, having undergone significant upgrades. Also: How to turn off Gemini in your Gmail, Photos, Chrome, and more - it's easy to opt out of AI For starters, it has now been upgraded to be "warmer" by default, and more conversational. OpenAI said in the blog post that early testers were surprised by how playful the model can be while remaining useful. GPT-5.1 is also better at instruction-following, which means it can better understand what you were requesting with your prompt, and, as a result, provide a more helpful answer that actually addresses your prompt. Lastly, for the first time, the model can employ adaptive reasoning, which enables it to think before responding to more challenging prompts, theoretically resulting in more accurate responses for complex tasks while staying speedy for easier ones. As a result, OpenAI reported that it performed significantly better on the AIME 2025 (an industry-standard mathematical benchmark) and Codeforces (a coding benchmark). ZDNET has yet to test GPT-5.1 but will update this story once we do. GPT-5 Thinking was built to tackle more complex tasks and therefore spend more time reasoning or thinking through a prompt ot generate an answer. To optimize the experience, GPT-5.1 can better adapt the amount of thinking to the complexity of the question, balancing speed and computational power with helpful responses. Also: Is ChatGPT Plus still worth $20? How it compares to the Free and Pro plans An internal benchmark posted by OpenAI shows that GPT-5.1 better adjusts for thinking time than its predecessor, thinking nearly twice as fast on the fastest tasks and twice as slow on the slower tasks. The company said the responses were also clearer and contained less jargon, making it OpenAI's most capable model yet. GPT-5.1 Instant and Thinking are both rolling out to users now, with priority going to paid subscribers, including Pro, Plus, Go, and Business plans, followed by free and logged-out users. The company said the rollout will be phased over the next few days to maintain stable performance for everyone. OpenAI plans to update GPT-5 Pro to GPT-5.1 soon. GPT-5 Auto will remain available in ChatGPT and will continue to automatically select the best model for the chatbot based on the prompt. The option to select from the new models is intended for specific use cases, or if you prefer a smoother and more natural tone. Also: How to use ChatGPT: A beginner's guide to the most popular AI chatbot On Thursday, Enterprise and Edu plans will get a seven-day early-access toggle (off by default), but then GPT-5.1 will become the default model. Both GPT-5.1 Instant and Thinking will be released in the API later this week. The legacy GPT-5 (Instant, Thinking, and Pro) will be available in ChatGPT's legacy models dropdown for paid subscribers for three months, allowing users to compare the two model families. This sunset period won't impact other legacy models. In addition to trying the new models, you can also personalize ChatGPT's tone and style with more precision than ever. For starters, you can change ChatGPT's tones and personality to more options: Default, Friendly (formerly Listener), and Efficient (formerly Robot) remain (with updates), and users now have Professional, Candid, and Quirky as well. OpenAI stated that these options are designed to better reflect diverse user preferences. The new personalities apply to all the new models; the formerly introduced Cyncial and Nerdy personalities will continue to be available in the dropdown personalization settings. These settings are rolling out today. Beyond personality, you can now also tune ChatGPT's characteristics. Now, in the personalization settings, you can adjust how concise, warm, or scannable the chatbot's responses are. This also tackles one of people's biggest pet peeves: how often ChatGPT uses emojis. The best part is that it can offer to update your preferences based on what you indicate in conversation, without you having to manually navigate to settings. This will be available later this week as an experiment for a limited number of users. Lastly, GPT-5.1 is better at understanding custom instructions for more personalized results, which can also be used to tweak ChatGPT's tone and outputs. OpenAI said updates you make apply to all of your chats, including ongoing chats -- a change from the prior system in which these adjustments only applied to conversations thereafter.

OpenAI says the brand-new GPT-5.1 is 'warmer' and has more 'personality' options

You can now toggle between Default, Professional, Friendly, Candid, Quirky, Efficient, Nerdy, and Cynical. OpenAI is releasing GPT-5.1 today, an update to the flagship model it released in August. OpenAI calls it an "upgrade" to GPT-5 that "makes ChatGPT smarter and more enjoyable to talk to." The new models include GPT-5.1 Instant and GPT-5.1 Thinking. The former is "warmer, more intelligent, and better at following your instructions" than its predecessor, per an OpenAI release, and the latter is "now easier to understand and faster on simple tasks, and more persistent on complex ones." Queries will, in most cases, be auto-matched to the models that may best be able to answer them. The two new models will start rolling out to ChatGPT users this week, and the old GPT-5 models will be available for three months in ChatGPT's legacy models dropdown menu before they disappear. As part of the update, OpenAI also said it would expand its personality presets for the conversational tone of the models. The total list of options now includes Default, Professional, Friendly, Candid, Quirky, Efficient, Nerdy, and Cynical, per the company's blog post. OpenAI also said in a release that it would also debut an "experiment for new ways to fine-tune ChatGPT's style directly from settings," which some users will begin to be able to access this week. "With more than 800 million people using ChatGPT, we're well past the point of one-size-fits-all," Fidji Simo, the company's CEO of Applications, wrote in a Wednesday Substack post. While OpenAI CEO Sam Altman hyped up the announce of GPT-5 in August, the release failed the hype test. Many ChatGPT users were left unimpressed, particularly at the incremental improvements, and expressed frustration over OpenAI's choice to make it the default model for ChatGPT. There was so much pressure that OpenAI decided it would bring back GPT-4o as an option, a day after the launch of GPT-5. Microsoft, OpenAI's strategic AI partner, has also increasingly been looking at rival models from Anthropic after GPT-5 failed to raise the bar enough. Anthropic's models are now helping power Copilot Researcher, GitHub Copilot, Copilot Studio, and a new Office Agent that is able to produce Word and PowerPoint documents from Microsoft's own Copilot chat interface. The announcement of GPT-5.1 comes just weeks after OpenAI launched its AI-powered web browser, ChatGPT Atlas. It has an "agent mode" that's currently only available to ChatGPT Plus and Pro users, and it works much like the company's Operator tool to take actions in the browser on behalf of users.

OpenAI Launches Smarter, More Conversational ChatGPT 5.1

OpenAI today upgraded GPT-5 to GPT-5.1, the next-generation version of the AI model that powers ChatGPT. There are two versions of GPT-5.1, including Instant and Thinking. Instant is warmer, more intelligent, and better at following instructions, according to OpenAI, while GPT-5.1 Thinking is easier to understand, faster on simple tasks, and more persistent on complex tasks. OpenAI says that users can expect a more enjoyable communication experience, with options to more easily customize ChatGPT's tone. There are new presets for tone, including Professional, Candid, and Quirky. The new presets join the existing Default, Nerdy, Cynical, Friendly (previously Listener), and Efficient (previously Robot) options. ChatGPT can also proactively offer to update preferences during conversations when you ask for a certain tone or style, and there are fine tuning options to adjust how concise, warm, or scannable responses are, along with how often it employs emojis. By default, GPT-5.1 Instant is warmer and more playful, and more likely to adhere to parameters that you set. GPT-5.1 Thinking is able to adapt thinking time more precisely to the question, and responses are clearer with fewer undefined terms. It's also warmer and more empathetic than before. Questions will continue to be routed to the most suitable model using GPT-5.1 Auto. GPT 5.1 Instant and Thinking are rolling out to users today, with paid Pro, Plus, Go, and Business users set to get access first, then free and logged-out users. Enterprise and Edu users will get a seven-day early-access toggle, after which GPT-5.1 will become the default model. OpenAI plans to roll out GPT-5.1 gradually to keep performance stable, so not all users will see it right away. GPT-5 will remain available in the legacy models dropdown for paid subscribers for the next three months.

OpenAI rolls out new ChatGPT personalities and speed updates

Why it matters: Users have formed strong attachments to ChatGPT's personality and have openly rebelled when it changes. * OpenAI says the updates are designed to make ChatGPT "more enjoyable to talk to." Driving the news: The updates to GPT-5 make ChatGPT communicate in a more natural way. * The company previously allowed users to customize bots' responses with presets including "Cynic," "Robot," "Listener" and "Nerd." * The GPT-5.1 update adds "Friendly," "Efficient," "Professional," "Candid," and "Quirky" and keeps the old tones. Between the lines: Both versions of the model -- 'Instant' for quick replies and 'Thinking' for complex reasoning -- get an upgrade. * GPT-5.1 Auto now chooses the right model automatically, so users usually don't have to. What they're saying: OpenAI's CEO of applications, Fidji Simo, wrote in a blog post that while the company's mission is to build AI that benefits humanity, it also wants chatbots that are useful in daily life. * "With more than 800 million people using ChatGPT, we're well past the point of one-size-fits-all," Simo writes. * "We want ChatGPT to feel like yours and work with you in the way that suits you best," she adds. Yes, but: Users and their loved ones already report forming unhealthy relationships with chatbots that can replace their real-world interactions, causing real psychological harm in some cases. * "We have to be vigilant about the potential for some people to develop attachment to our models," Simo says, adding that the company is working closely with experts "to better understand what healthy, supportive interactions with AI should look like." The fine print: GPT-5.1 starts with paid users and then will expand gradually to all.

OpenAI reboots ChatGPT experience with GPT-5.1 after mixed reviews of GPT-5

ChatGPT is about to become faster and more conversational as OpenAI upgrades its flagship model GPT-5 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 accessible on ChatGPT. GPT-5.1 Instant, essentially the default and most-used model, is now "warmer, more intelligent, and better at following your instructions." Meanwhile, GPT-5.1 Thinking is an advanced reasoning model that responds faster for simple tasks and yet more persistently on complex ones. "We heard clearly from users that great AI should not only be smart, but also enjoyable to talk to," OpenAI said on the blog post. "GPT-5.1 improves meaningfully on both intelligence and communication style." The company added that both models offer a way for users to "shape ChatGPT's tone," allowing people to control how the chat platform responds depending on the conversation they are having. Both models were rolled out to ChatGPT users, including Pro, Plus, Go, and Business users, and then to the free tier. Those on the Enterprise and Edu plans will get a seven-day early-access toggle for the models before GPT-5.1 becomes the default model. OpenAI said the models can also be accessible through the API, both with adapted reasoning. OpenAI has noted that it will soon update GPT-5 Pro to version 5.1. Instant and Thinking models The upgraded models, OpenAI said, the 5.1 tag reflects improvements to the base model and considers these as part of the GPT-5 family, trained on the same stack and data as its reasoning models. The biggest difference between 5.1 and 5 is its more natural and conversational tone, said OpenAI CEO for Applications Fidji Simo in a post. "Based on early testing, it often surprises people with its playfulness while remaining clear and useful," OpenAI said in its blog post. Instant can use adaptive reasoning to help it decide when it needs to think about its answers first, especially for more complicated questions. OpenAI noted that it improved instruction following, so that while the model continues to respond quickly, it will actually be answering the user's query. Recent model releases, such as Baidu's ERNIE-4.5-VL-28B-A3B-Thinking, have been outperforming GPT-5 in benchmarks like instruction following. GPT-5.1 Thinking can figure out on its own how much reasoning power it should devote to a prompt. It adapts to the type and complexity of a query, so it will take longer to answer a fuller, complex question than a simple summary request. OpenAI said evaluations showed that GPT-5.1 Thinking spends less time and therefore uses fewer tokens on simple tasks, compared with GPT-5, outperforming the base model in terms of speed of response. One thing enterprises should note is that GPT-5.1 Thinking answers "with less jargon and fewer undefined terms." OpenAI said removing jargony responses makes Thinking more approachable 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 authoritative chat platform experience in their conversations. ChatGPT already allows users to choose preset options for the tone of the models, 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 (previously Robot), Professional, Candid and Quirky. Two other personalities, Cynical and Nerdy, remain unchanged. "We think many people will find that GPT-5.1 does a better job of bringing IQ and EQ together, but one default clearly 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 the style of its responses will differ -- more formal or familiar, more playful or direct, more or less jargon or slang, and so on. Of course, 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 too many settings or open-ended options," Simo said. People can also adjust how much ChatGPT uses emojis. It also offers granular controls for responses, with OpenAI experimenting with the ability to make the models more concise, warm or scannable. Saving a rollout OpenAI's GPT-5 rollout was...less than perfect. While company executives, including CEO Sam Altman, touted the new model's capabilities, a decision to initially sunset older and beloved models on ChatGPT caused dissatisfaction among customers. Worse yet, many early adopters found that GPT-5 didn't perform better than those older options in domains such as math, science, and writing. This led Altman to walk back some of his statements around model removal, and blamed performance issues on GPT-5's router. The router, which automatically directs queries to the models best suited to it, is not going away as GPT-5.1 Auto will route prompts to the model type that can answer it best. OpenAI is careful to note that GPT-5 models Instant, Thinking, and Pro are still available in ChatGPT's model dropdown, although paid subscribers only have three months to compare these older versions with the 5.1 update. The sunset period for GPT-5, however, will not impact models like GPT-4o. "Going forward, when we introduce new ChatGPT models, our approach is to give people ample space to evaluate what's changed and share feedback, allowing us to continue innovating our frontier models while transitioning smoothly," the company said. "Sunset periods will be communicated clearly and with plenty of advance notice."

OpenAI Unveils GPT-5.1, Making ChatGPT Smarter, Faster, and More 'Conversational' - Decrypt

More control: Users can fine-tune personality traits and tone, with rollout starting today for paid ChatGPT tiers. OpenAI today announced the release of GPT-5.1, an iterative upgrade to its foundational large language model series. The update, which is now rolling out to users, features two enhanced models: GPT-5.1 Instant and GPT-5.1 Thinking, focusing simultaneously on increased capability and improved conversational warmth. The company said the update aims to address user feedback that AI should be not only intelligent but also enjoyable to interact with, positioning the new models as "smarter, more conversational ChatGPT." The GPT-5.1 release is split across the two primary use cases within ChatGPT: 1. GPT-5.1 Instant Designated as ChatGPT's most-used model, GPT-5.1 Instant has been optimized to be "warmer by default and more conversational." Key improvements include: 2. GPT-5.1 Thinking The upgrade to the advanced reasoning model, GPT-5.1 Thinking, centers on efficiency and clarity. In parallel with the model upgrades, OpenAI is enhancing user control over the AI's personality and tone. New preset options for conversational style -- including Professional, Candid, and Quirky -- are being introduced, refining the previous tone controls. The company also announced an experiment to allow users to tune specific characteristics, such as conciseness and emoji frequency, directly from personalization settings. The rollout of GPT-5.1 Instant and GPT-5.1 Thinking begins today for paid subscribers (Pro, Plus, Go, Business) before expanding to free users. Enterprise and Education users will have a seven-day early-access toggle before the new models become the sole default. An API integration for developers is slated to follow later this week.

OpenAI launches GPT-5.1- here's what makes the new GPT-5.1 update a game-changer for ChatGPT users

OpenAI has launched GPT-5.1 for ChatGPT, boasting a warmer, more intelligent AI that better understands instructions. The update enhances both quick responses and advanced reasoning, offering improved natural language and faster processing. Paid users get access first, with free users following soon. This upgrade aims to make ChatGPT more conversational and precise. OpenAI has introduced GPT-5.1, the next evolution of its popular ChatGPT model, just three months after unveiling GPT-5. The company says this latest update is "now warmer, more intelligent, and better at following your instructions." It's a move aimed at making AI feel more human and intuitive than ever. GPT-5.1 focuses on making conversations feel more natural and intelligent. OpenAI describes the update as improving both its Instant and Thinking models. The GPT-5.1 Instant model -- the one most people use -- is "now warmer, more intelligent, and better at following your instructions." ALSO READ: Norway uncovers kill switch in Chinese buses that can be shut down remotely - Denmark scrambling for solutions The GPT-5.1 Thinking model, known for advanced reasoning, has also been refined to be faster on simple tasks while taking its time with more complex ones. Both models now respond with a friendlier, more conversational tone by default -- a change users have been asking for, as per a report by 9to5Mac. OpenAI says GPT-5.1's biggest leap lies in how naturally it communicates. The Instant model's replies sound less robotic and more like genuine writing. The company also added better tone controls so users can shape the AI's personality. Options now include default, friendly, efficient, professional, candid, and quirky, allowing ChatGPT to adapt its style to your mood or task, as per a report by 9to5Mac. Another improvement lies in precision, GPT-5.1 follows instructions more faithfully. For example, it can now correctly respond when asked to limit answers to a specific word count, solving a common frustration for users. ALSO READ: What does 67 mean, who made the 67 meme and why is it so popular? OpenAI is rolling out GPT-5.1 to paid ChatGPT subscribers first, including Pro, Plus, Go, and Business plans. The broader release to free and signed-out users will happen shortly after. GPT-5 will stay active for at least three more months, following backlash over older model removals earlier this year, as per a report by 9to5Mac. ALSO READ: Akon arrested in Georgia?Here's what led to Akon's recent arrest and mugshot in Georgia Meanwhile, Apple confirmed that ChatGPT integrated through Siri with Apple Intelligence currently uses GPT-5, with an upgrade to GPT-5.1 expected in a future iOS update. What's new in GPT-5.1? GPT-5.1 brings a warmer tone, smarter reasoning, and better instruction-following, with improved versions of both the Instant and Thinking models. Who gets access to GPT-5.1 first? Paid ChatGPT users on Pro, Plus, Go, and Business plans are receiving GPT-5.1 first, with free users to follow soon.

Meet OpenAI's GPT-5.1: A Warmer, Smarter, More Conversationally Adept ChatGPT

OpenAI's ChatGPT, an AI-powered chatbot service, has just received a huge upgrade, thanks to the GPT-5.1 family of AI models that are now rolling out. Alongside these two models, OpenAI is now allowing users to modify ChatGPT's conversational style to their liking, adding Professional, Candid, and Quirky styles to the Default, Friendly, Efficient, Cynical, and Nerdy styles that are already available. Today's product launches come roughly a month after OpenAI took on Google's Chrome and Perplexity Comet with a dedicated AI browser, called ChatGPT Atlas, which can understand the context of the web page that you are browsing and answer relevant questions via the Ask ChatGPT Sidebar. Atlas can also offer suggestions as you type, as well as open, close, bookmark, and re-open any browser tab.