ChatGPT’s big ‚code red‘ moment has led to the release of the enhanced 5.2 model, in tandem with a huge partnership announcement with Disney’s IP.
Reports a few days ago stated that OpenAI’s Sam Altman sent a „code red“ memo to employees in the wake of Google’s Gemini 3 release, urging the teams to shift their focus to improving the main ChatGPT experience, and postpone other AI projects. The rumors also indicated a GPT-5.2 upgrade would be released this week, as soon as Tuesday. It turns out they were almost correct: OpenAI unveiled the GPT-5.2 family of models on Thursday, two days later than expected, saying ChatGPT can now offer several improvements over the previous generation. That previous generation is GPT-5.1, which OpenAI launched only a month ago as an upgrade for GPT-5.
OpenAI didn’t just release new AI models with improved capabilities over the previous versions. The company also announced a significant partnership with Disney for Sora, which should also serve as a notable PR move in its rivalry with other AI firms developing frontier chatbots that rival ChatGPT, especially Google. Finally, OpenAI confirmed that the adult mode some ChatGPT users may be waiting for is coming in early 2026.What’s new in GPT-5.2?
OpenAI said in a blog post that GPT-5.2 is the „most capable model series yet for professional knowledge work.“ That’s what users would expect from any new chatbot upgrade from the main players in the AI industry, but OpenAI provided benchmarks and statements from early testers to back up its claims. The company says GPT-5.2 „sets a new state of the art across many benchmarks“, highlighting GDPval, „where it outperforms industry professionals at well-specified knowledge work tasks spanning 44 occupations.
