It’s a competitive market. When one AI upgrade launches, another isn't far behind. With Google currently rolling out Gemini 3, OpenAI's rival, ChatGPT, is looking to steal some of that thunder with a new model upgrade that just launched.
Quietly pushed out on its release notes and with a quick post on X, this isn’t a hugely publicized change, but OpenAI probably knows exactly what it's doing.
“Today we’re upgrading GPT-5 Pro to GPT-5.1 Pro. In early testing, users consistently preferred GPT-5.1 Pro, rating it especially highly for writing help, data science, and business questions,” OpenAI said in its release notes.
“Testers highlighted the model’s improved clarity, relevance, and structure in its responses.”
GPT-5.1 Pro is rolling out today to all Pro users.It delivers clearer, more capable answers for complex work, with strong gains in writing help, data science, and business tasks. https://t.co/jXypkza4vQNovember 19, 2025
What does ChatGPT's new model do?
In early testing, users consistently preferred GPT-5.1 Pro, rating it especially highly for writing help, data science, and business questions.
OpenAI
OpenAI is moving fast. GPT-5.1 came out recently, and it was a noticeable improvement to GPT-5 — but mainly in one area. This update made ChatGPT more personable and gave users the ability to better alter its personality.
It can be made sarcastic, more caring, more excitable, or more precise. In total, the chatbot had eight new personalities that came with the upgrade.
Now GPT-5.1 Pro takes a lot of these improvements and makes them smarter. This, in theory, should make it the perfect tool for helping with complicated writing tasks or delving into detailed tasks that require a more personable chatbot.
OpenAI hasn’t given much information on the model currently, but GPT-5 Pro was the version that OpenAI gave the most attention to when it launched. This topped benchmarking tests and was especially effective in writing tasks.
How to use GPT 5.1 Pro
GPT-5.1 Pro will be exclusively available for Pro users, quietly replacing the GPT-5 Pro version from before. It will be available to select from the model selector in ChatGPT.
OpenAI has announced that GPT-5 Pro will remain available for the next 90 days before being retired.
How will this compare to Gemini 3 and Grok 4.1?
OpenAI is launching these updates at a challenging time, facing big changes from both Gemini and Grok, two of its biggest competitors.
In the last couple of days, xAI’s Grok became smarter, more conversational, and better at dealing with writing tasks. In a blog post announcing the update, xAI claimed to top benchmarking tests for emotional intelligence and writing.
However, in the same week, Google released Gemini 3. This is a huge upgrade for Gemini, bringing a host of new features and making the Gemini chatbot smarter than ever.
This means ChatGPT has some serious competition here. GPT 5.1 Pro is likely to be an incredible tool, especially for those needing a more capable writing companion. We’ll be digging into it over the next few days to see if it offers enough to hold off the competition.
Follow Tom's Guide on Google News and add us as a preferred source to get our up-to-date news, analysis, and reviews in your feeds.
