OpenAI on Thursday introduced the GPT-5.6 family of models, released in three variants: Sol, Terra and Luna. The company says the new models broaden user capabilities across enterprise work, coding and scientific research.
The three variants and target uses
- Sol: positioned as the workhorse and the highest‑performance option; OpenAI describes it as their best coding model yet.
- Terra: an intermediate model aimed at more general tasks.
- Luna: a budget option intended for cost‑sensitive use cases.
CEO Sam Altman said the newest models are orders of magnitude more efficient and cost‑effective than prior versions. In remarks to CNBC, Altman claimed Sol is 54% more token efficient on AI coding tasks.
Cybersecurity features and controversy
OpenAI highlighted that GPT‑5.6 is its “strongest cybersecurity model yet,” asserting frontier performance with significantly fewer tokens. The family supports defensive activities including threat modeling, code review and patching, and blue teaming (simulating attacks on one’s own systems to find weaknesses before real attackers do).
The models’ cyber capabilities have prompted debate: the article notes that the Trump administration previously sought to restrict the rollout, reportedly over concerns about possible misuse.
New product: ChatGPT Work
OpenAI also launched ChatGPT Work, a workplace companion for enterprise teams available on desktop, web and mobile. The tool is designed to assist with daily clerical tasks such as drafting documents, spreadsheets and presentations.
Competitors and benchmarks
The GPT‑5.6 announcement follows similar releases this week from competitors SpaceXAI and Meta. OpenAI appears to be directing much of its competitive messaging at Anthropic, which has gained traction as an enterprise‑focused competitor.
OpenAI cites the Artificial Analysis Coding Agent Index to claim that its new family outperforms Anthropic’s models across the board. According to OpenAI, Sol “sets a new state of the art at 80, 2.8 points above Fable 5, while using less than half the output tokens, taking less than half the time, and costing about one‑third less.” The company adds that Terra performs just above Fable 5 and Luna outperforms Opus 4.8.
Availability and pricing
OpenAI said GPT‑5.6 is now available via ChatGPT, Codex and the OpenAI API. The stated per‑million‑token pricing is:
- Sol: $5 input / $30 output
- Terra: $2.50 input / $15 output
- Luna: $1 input / $6 output
The release emphasizes efficiency and lower operating costs for high‑volume enterprise and coding workloads, while also promoting the models’ defensive cybersecurity uses.
