On November 13, 2025, OpenAI founder Sam Ultraman tweeted on the official account of the famous social media platform "X" that GPT-5.1 had been officially launched, which was very different from before. In the past, when new versions were released, the official blog was filled with benchmark comparison charts, and various phrases such as "XX% performance improvement" and "faster and stronger" were everywhere. But what about this time? After flipping through the entire official blog, I didn't even see a score comparison chart, and there were very few standard phrases. Is this still OpenAI that we are familiar with?
Until we saw the sentence: 'We clearly heard from users that excellent AI not only needs to be smart, but also needs to make it enjoyable to chat with.'. ”Originally, GPT-5.1 focused on upgrading the chat experience.
New style preset, chat no longer "serious"
The new version of GPT-5.1 provides eight style presets to make our conversations more enjoyable. It is no longer just a cold answering machine, but has become like a flesh and blood person. The reasoning is more rigorous, the code is written more beautifully, and it also allows us to carefully 'tune' its chat style. Chatting with AI is no longer the dull tool like feeling of asking and answering questions, but has become catchy, familiar with the atmosphere, able to pick up the conversation, and even accompany you for half a day on idle topics.
After the collapse of GPT-5's reputation last time, OpenAI finally heeded the advice this time. It admitted for the first time that simply brushing the leaderboard is not enough. What users want is AI that can speak well, and both practical and emotional value cannot be lacking. Just like when you go to a restaurant to eat, it's not enough to just have delicious dishes, the taste and service also need to keep up.
Unveiling the update times and methods of different users
After updating to GPT-5.1, ChatGPT will switch to the latest model by default, so we don't have to choose it specifically. Paid users (Pro, Plus, Go, Business) will gradually be pushed from November 12, 2025. For free and unregistered users, we will follow up after the paid users have pushed them. The enterprise and education versions have a 7-day early bird switch (default off), and then upgrade to GPT-5.1 uniformly. API developers don't worry, GPT-5.1 Instant and GPT-5.1 Thinking will launch APIs later this week.
GPT-5.1 Instant: Warm and obedient
GPT-5.1 Instant is the most commonly used model in ChatGPT, and this time it has become more "warm" and talkative. Early tests have shown that it occasionally exhibits some playfulness, while still providing clear and practical answers. It's like the lively and reliable friend around you.
It is now more obedient, able to follow our instructions more reliably, and accurately answer the questions we really want to ask. Moreover, it also introduced adaptive inference function for the first time. When encountering difficulties, it will intelligently decide to think first and provide more thorough and accurate answers; Facing simple problems, still maintain a fast response. It has also shown significant improvement in performance on professional evaluation test sets such as Mathematics (AIME 2025) and Programming (Codeforces). It's like a student who thinks carefully when faced with difficult problems and can quickly answer simple questions.
GPT-5.1 Thinking: More efficient, easy to understand, and warm
As a more advanced inference model, GPT-5.1 Thinking has also undergone critical optimization. It can now allocate thinking time more accurately, spend more time on complex problems, and provide more thorough answers; Faster response and shorter waiting time for simple questions. It's like a clever craftsman who knows when to refine and when to finish quickly.
Its answer is also clearer, using fewer industry terms and undefined vocabulary, making it effortless for us to handle complex tasks or explain technical concepts. Moreover, its default tone has become warmer and more empathetic. In the words of OpenAI App CEO Fidji Simo, this upgrade is a better combination of IQ and EQ. The model maintains high intelligence while significantly improving emotional intelligence. ChatGPT has more natural dialogue and empathy, which can meet our personalized needs in different scenarios.
Creating Exclusive ChatGPT: A Big Leap in Personalized Experience
If model upgrade is considered as hard power, then the leap in sexual experience is considered as soft power, which is another major highlight of this update. The goal of OpenAI is to make it easy for us to adjust the tone and style of ChatGPT to the most comfortable state.
On the basis of the original default, friendly, and efficient, three official styles have been added. Professional is suitable for formal occasions such as work and writing; Candid is more direct and not roundabout; Quirky is even more interesting and unconventional. The options of "technical house" and "roast expert" in the previous beta version are also retained in the personalized settings.
In addition to directly selecting styles, OpenAI is also experimenting with a new feature that allows us to fine tune the features of ChatGPT directly from the settings. We can precisely control the conciseness, enthusiasm, ease of browsing, and even the frequency of using emojis in our answers. If you don't want to manually set it, ChatGPT may also proactively ask if you want to save this preference to permanent settings when we try to guide a specific tone in the conversation, saving the trouble of manual adjustment.
Some netizens joked that the GPT-5.1 update is a more creative way to ignore our prompt words. However, the stylization and anthropomorphism of AI also come at a cost. A warmer and more emotionally intelligent AI must be safer. OpenAI has also responded after being involved in the recent suicide case of a 16-year-old boy.
Security considerations: adding a humanized evaluation dimension
In the GPT-5.1 model introduction System Card, OpenAI's in-depth consideration of security is introduced. For the first time, it has added two new and more user-friendly dimensions to the security assessment of the model.
One is mental health, which evaluates how AI can respond to signs of isolation, delusions, or mania that users may exhibit. The second is emotional dependence, which evaluates whether AI responses will encourage users to develop unhealthy dependence or emotional attachment to ChatGPT.
In traditional security assessments, GPT-5.1 Instant performs well and is stronger in resisting jailbreaks than its predecessor GPT-5-instant-oct3. However, OpenAI also candidly pointed out that GPT-5.1 Thinking has slightly regressed compared to its predecessor in benchmark testing for handling harassment, hate speech, and other content; The Instant model also showed slight regression in some evaluations of emotional dependence. However, OpenAI has stated that it is committed to improving these aspects and has chosen to transparently disclose this rollback phenomenon. In the current era of rapid AI iteration, this is more worthy of attention than simply promoting zero errors.
Thoughtful transition: providing 'regret medicine'
If you don't see any updates when you open ChatGPT today, don't worry, it will be your turn in the next few days, and OpenAI is gradually pushing it to all users. Moreover, in order to avoid the embarrassment of netizens calling for the return of GPT-4o like before when GPT-5 was released, OpenAI has provided a "regret medicine" this time. Within 3 months, which is the elimination period of GPT-5, paying users can still choose to use the old GPT-5 model in the drop-down menu of settings, in order to smoothly transition to GPT-5.1.
Future Development: Transformation from Tools to Partners
GPT-5.1 is a major update that combines capability and experience. OpenAI is clearly telling us that the future of AI is not only about stronger parameters and higher scores, but also about better understanding your experience and more intimate interactions.
What should a perfect assistant look like? OpenAI CEO Fidji Simo made an interesting analogy in her article, saying, "If I could fully control my husband's traits, I might make him agree with me forever, but obviously, it's not a good idea." The best AI should be like the best people in our lives, who listen, adapt, but also challenge us when necessary and help us grow. From an omniscient tool to an exclusive partner who can understand your chat temperament and even help you grow, this may be the future that GPT-5.1 truly wants to open up.
The GPT-5.1 update this time is like a revolution in the AI field, showing us a new direction for AI development. It is no longer limited to technological advancements, but focuses more on emotional connections and personalized experiences with users. I believe that in the future, AI will bring us more surprises.