OpenAI rolls out GPT-5.6 after getting green light from government – and announces ‘ChatGPT work’

About two weeks after OpenAI’s GPT-5.6 was discovered Organizational drama – It has only been rolled out to government-approved organizations during a “limited preview” period – and the company has received the green light from the Trump administration to go public with the model. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman Shoot it “The best model we have ever produced.”

To celebrate, OpenAI also unveiled a new AI agent on the same day: ChatGPT Work. It is described as a combination of ChatGPT and Codex, allowing the everyday, non-technical user to take advantage of Codex’s capabilities for non-programming tasks, and is supported by the GPT-5.6 (Sol, Terra, and Luna) model suite. “It can gather context from the apps, files, and workflows you choose and create final artifacts like documents, spreadsheets, presentations, and web apps,” OpenAI wrote in a blog post. Blog postAdding that a “unified plugin directory” allows ChatGPT to connect to tools like Slack, Gmail, Google Drive, calendars, and CRM.

Mac and Windows users worldwide, including free ChatGPT users, should have instant access to ChatGPT Work and GPT-5.6 via the ChatGPT desktop app. On mobile and web, Pro, Enterprise, and Edu users will first get access, while Plus and Business users will get access “over the next few days,” OpenAI wrote, adding that “the rollout begins globally and will gradually continue toward full availability over the next 24 hours.”

Companies like OpenAI and Anthropic, as well as tech giants like Google (And even more recently, apple), are vying to break new ground in the race to make AI agents actually useful to the average person, especially in the wake of the viral open source AI agent OpenClaw. They have had mixed results, and so far, the right theoretical AI agent for the everyday consumer remains elusive.

OpenAI hopes that its new product, which is a direct competitor to Anthropic’s Claude Cowork (which combines Claude and Claude Code), will push it forward in the race.

OpenAI specifically relies on Sol, the most powerful GPT-5.6 modeling suite, to set “a new standard for intelligence and efficiency,” especially when it comes to programming, cybersecurity, science, as well as computer-using capabilities. The company is also marketing the model as a lower-cost alternative to competitors’ more powerful models, amid complaints of poor performance Industry-wide money squeeze The costs of the AI ​​laboratory are passed on to the clients.