OpenAI is gearing up for the release of its highly anticipated GPT-5.1 Thinking model, with signs pointing to an imminent update for ChatGPT. The new model is expected to bring significant improvements, including advanced multi-step reasoning capabilities, as OpenAI faces growing competition from Google’s Gemini 3 Pro.
GPT-5.1 Thinking: Key Features and Variants

GPT-5.1 Thinking is a major step forward for OpenAI’s AI models, and early indications show that it will be optimised for more complex reasoning tasks. It is expected to power advanced processes in ChatGPT, helping users tackle multi-step problems and agent-like tasks with greater accuracy.
Reports suggest that GPT-5.1 may come in several variants, including:
- Mini: A lightweight version for users with less computing power.
- Thinking: A model focused on advanced reasoning.
- Codex Upgrade: A version aimed at code generation and developer tasks.
These variants appear to be undergoing internal testing under obfuscated names, with OpenAI likely conducting A/B tests to evaluate performance before making the official release. One key feature of these models is their “thinking budgets,” which likely refer to factors such as context length, compute allocation, and reasoning depth. These features could benefit both consumers and enterprise teams by offering more reliable and consistent outputs.
GPT-5.1 Thinking: Timing and Competitive Pressures
The timing of the GPT-5.1 release is crucial, as OpenAI appears to be positioning itself to respond directly to Google’s upcoming Gemini 3 Pro launch. Both companies are focused on enhancing AI models’ context windows and problem-solving capabilities to stay competitive in the rapidly evolving AI landscape.
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OpenAI’s strategy seems to be aimed at delivering a strong competitor to Gemini 3 Pro, with improvements that would cater to power users, developers, and enterprises. However, it remains unclear whether all the rumoured GPT-5.1 variants will be released at once or if some will be restricted to specific tiers or API access initially.
As the launch date approaches, industry watchers are closely monitoring for any official updates from OpenAI to confirm the model’s capabilities and release timeline.
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