OpenAI Releases GPT 5.5 Targeting Agentic Coding and Scientific Research
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OpenAI released GPT-5.5 on April 23, 2026, positioning it as their most autonomous and capable flagship model yet. Arriving just seven weeks after GPT-5.4, the release reflects the accelerating pace of AI development. OpenAI describes it as their smartest model to date, built to handle complex, multi-step tasks with minimal human guidance across coding, scientific research, and enterprise workflows. GPT-5.5 supports a 1 million token context window and was co-designed with NVIDIA GB200 and GB300 hardware. It leads across 14 benchmarks, including 82.7% on Terminal-Bench 2.0 and 98.0% on Tau2-bench Telecom. Priced at $5 per million input tokens, OpenAI argues token efficiency makes it cheaper per task despite the higher rate. The model is available via API and in ChatGPT for Plus, Pro, Business, and Enterprise users. OpenAI has flagged GPT-5.5 as High risk under its Preparedness Framework for cybersecurity and biological capabilities, making its broad release a notable industry moment worth watching closely.
OpenAI released ChatGPT Image 2.0, replacing GPT Image 1.5 as ChatGPT’s default image generator with improved text rendering, realism, and planning capabilities. The model supports up to 2K resolution, 4K beta, 3:1 to 1:3 aspect ratios, and eight consistent images per prompt. Instant mode is free; thinking, batching, and web-aware generation require paid plans. API pricing includes $30 per million image output tokens, while full developer rollout is expected in early May 2026.
Vercel confirmed unauthorized access to internal systems after ShinyHunters offered alleged employee data, source code, access keys, GitHub and NPM tokens for $2 million. The April 19, 2026 incident reportedly began through compromised Context.ai OAuth tokens, exposing 580 employee records and some customer environment variables not marked “sensitive.” Vercel said only a limited customer subset was affected. Users should revoke the identified OAuth app, audit Workspace logs, rotate Vercel secrets and connected service tokens, and enable sensitive-variable protections.