OpenAI has introduced its latest upgrade, GPT-5.1, rolling it out first to paid subscribers of ChatGPT and soon to other users. The package includes two versions: GPT-5.1 Instant, tuned for speed and conversational ease, and GPT-5.1 Thinking, designed to handle complex tasks with longer internal reasoning.
Users will notice new options for adjusting tone and voice. In the chat interface they can now choose presets like Friendly, Professional, Candid or Quirky, and set traits such as warmth, conciseness and emoji usage.
OpenAI says the update reflects the feedback that AI should not just be smart but feel like a natural conversational partner.
What’s Different This Time
Performance improvements are a core feature of the release. GPT-5.1 Thinking can allocate more “thinking time” when a request is difficult, while Instant cuts down latency on standard queries.
OpenAI claims the update delivers roughly twice the speed on simple tasks and better reasoning consistency on harder ones.
GPT-5.1 Instant is now warmer and more conversational.
— OpenAI (@OpenAI) November 12, 2025
The model can use adaptive reasoning to decide to think a bit longer before responding to tougher questions.
It also has improved instruction following, so the model more reliably answers the question you actually asked. pic.twitter.com/5zP0ft0ekm
Source: @OpenAI/X
The models also support the full suite of existing ChatGPT tools, such as uploads, image analysis and data-analysis, and are made available in the API under names “gpt-5.1-chat-latest” (for Instant) and “gpt-5.1” (for Thinking). GPT-5 will remain available in legacy form for a three-month transition period.
WHY It Matters
The update signals a shift in how OpenAI is thinking about its user experience. Instead of releasing a radically larger model, the company is focusing on usable improvements, richer dialogue and adaptability to user tone. This may improve satisfaction among users who found previous versions less engaging.
For enterprise customers and developers the new edition promises smoother integration into workflows where tone, speed and instruction-following matter.
Customisation capabilities mean ChatGPT can more closely adhere to brand voice, compliance needs or user preferences, rather than always producing the same generic style.
The broader industry will watch this rollout for signs of how quickly and consistently AI models can deliver both high speed and dependable reasoning in real-world settings.
As generative AI matures, the user experience and developer controls are becoming as important as raw model size or benchmarks.
GPT-5.1 is now available in a phased rollout and will appear in API form later this week. OpenAI says this release is part of an ongoing cadence and that follow-up updates will continue under the 5.x naming system.
The real test ahead will be adoption, developer uptake and whether these conversational and customisation features turn ChatGPT from a tool into a more natural companion for work and casual use alike.
