GPT-5.6 buzz builds with launch imminent
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Public access to OpenAI's GPT-5.6 model is coming on Thursday, and early reviewers are already praising its speed, creativity, math skills and ability to complete complex tasks.
The big picture: GPT-5.6's public rollout will intensify competition among the leading AI developers, just days after Anthropic (re-)launched the widely praised Fable 5.
What's happening: Excitement for OpenAI's new Sol Ultra model of GPT-5.6 surged overnight after OpenAI announced Sol's release date for Thursday, July 9.
- X users — who already spent the weekend hyping up the most powerful of the new ChatGPT models — are still debating what Sol is capable of once it actually launches Thursday.
What they're saying: Developers and early testers are sharing early impressions, though many of the most enthusiastic reviews have come from OpenAI employees. Independent review is limited.
- MagicPath AI CEO Pietro Schirano wrote on X: "I've been testing it for months and, without exaggeration, it's the best model I've ever used. Fast, smart, genuinely creative."
- Theo Browne, CEO of chatbot platform T3 Chat, wrote on X: "gpt-5.6-sol is world leading in computer use. It made me use it 100x more. When we lost access to 5.6, I quickly started to go insane without it."
- Early testers also say Sol excels at difficult coding and math tasks, with OpenAI CEO Sam Altman teasing the model discovered "new math."
- It's also, apparently, really good at playing Pokémon.
The other side: Some reviewers say Sol is comparable to Anthropic's Fable 5, and that the two could be used together but for different tasks.
- "It's an amazing model, but for almost every task I tested, Fable was quite a bit better," wrote investor Matt Shumer on X.
Context: OpenAI first rolled out GPT-5.6 in late June, but limited access at the request of the Trump administration.
- GPT-5.6, like Anthropic's Fable 5, was under review of the U.S. government, which has been assessing the models' advanced cybersecurity capabilities.
What we're watching: A new version of Grok is also due out shortly.
- Elon Musk — who's had a noted rivalry with OpenAI CEO Sam Altman — revealed overnight the new Grok 4.5 will soon be available to the public.
The bottom line: The speculation is nearly over — now developers will decide whether GPT-5.6 delivers on the hype.
Go deeper: The AI chip rush is crowding the same narrow pipeline
