OpenAI’s new GPT-5.3-Codex-Spark is a smaller coding model that runs on Cerebras chips and pushes over 1,000 tokens per second. It’s the company’s first model built specifically for real-time programming.
OpenAI is dropping several older AI models from ChatGPT on February 13, 2026: GPT-4o, GPT-4.1, GPT-4.1 mini, and o4-mini. The models will stick around in the API for now. The company says it comes down to usage: only 0.1 percent of users still pick GPT-4o on any given day.
There's a reason OpenAI is being so careful about GPT-4o specifically: the model has a complicated past. OpenAI already killed it once back in August 2025, only to bring it back for paying subscribers after users pushed back hard. Some people had grown genuinely attached to the model, which was known for its complacent, people-pleasing communication style. OpenAI addresses this head-on at the end of the post:
We know that losing access to GPT‑4o will feel frustrating for some users, and we didn’t make this decision lightly. Retiring models is never easy, but it allows us to focus on improving the models most people use today.
OpenAI
OpenAI points to GPT-5.1 and GPT-5.2 as improved successors that incorporate feedback from GPT-4o users. People can now tweak ChatGPT's tone and style, things like warmth and enthusiasm. But that probably won't be enough for the GPT-4o faithful.
The Pentagon is pressing leading AI companies including OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, and xAI to make their AI tools available on classified military networks – without the usual usage restrictions.
OpenAI uses a "special version" of ChatGPT to track down internal information leaks. That's according to a report from The Information, citing a person familiar with the matter. When a news article about internal operations surfaces, OpenAI's security team feeds the text into this custom ChatGPT version, which has access to internal documents as well as employees' Slack and email messages.
The system then suggests possible sources of the leak by identifying files or communication channels that contain the published information and showing who had access to them. It's unclear whether OpenAI has actually caught anyone using this method.
What exactly makes this version special isn't known, but there's a clue: OpenAI engineers recently presented the architecture of an internal AI agent that could serve this purpose. It's designed to let employees run complex data analysis using natural language and has access to institutional knowledge stored in Slack messages, Google Docs, and more.
OpenAI wants to put ads in ChatGPT and former researcher Zoe Hitzig says that’s a dangerous move. She spent two years at the company and doesn’t believe OpenAI can resist the temptation to exploit its users’ most personal conversations.
OpenAI is adding new capabilities to its Responses API that are built specifically for long-running AI agents. The update brings three major features: server-side compression that keeps agent sessions going for hours without blowing past context limits, controlled internet access for OpenAI-hosted containers so they can install libraries and run scripts, and "skills": reusable bundles of instructions, scripts, and files that agents can pull in and execute on demand.
Skills work as a middle layer between system prompts and tools. Instead of stuffing long workflows into every prompt, developers can package them as versioned bundles that only kick in when needed. They ship as ZIP files, support versioning, and work in both hosted and local containers through the API. OpenAI recommends building skills like small command-line programs and pinning specific versions in production.
OpenAI released an update for GPT-5.2 Instant in ChatGPT and the API on February 10, 2026. The company says the update improves response style and quality, with more measured, contextually appropriate tone and clearer answers to advice and how-to questions that place the most important information up front. CEO Sam Altman addressed the scope of the changes: "Not a huge change, but hopefully you find it a little better."
The update targets the "Instant" variant, the model without reasoning steps. In the API, developers can access it via "gpt-5.2-chat-latest". In ChatGPT, users need to switch to "Instant" in the model picker. The model also kicks in automatically when GPT-5's router determines a reasoning model isn't necessary, or when users have run out of credits for heavier models, something that happens especially often on the free tier.
OpenAI has upgraded Deep Research in ChatGPT. The feature now runs on the new GPT-5.2 model, as OpenAI announced on X. A key addition is that users can connect apps to ChatGPT and—potentially very useful—search specific websites. The search progress can also be tracked in real time, interrupted with questions, or supplemented with new sources. Results can now be displayed as full-screen reports.
Until now, Deep Research—which launched in 2025—ran on o3 and o4 mini models. OpenAI considers it the first "AI agent" in ChatGPT, since the system independently kicks off multi-stage web searches based on the user's query before generating a response.
That said, even web searches don't protect against generative AI errors, and the longer the generated text, the higher the risk of mistakes. In everyday use, targeted search queries with capable reasoning models are often more reliable. Web search significantly reduces hallucination rates overall, but doesn't eliminate them.
OpenAI won't be using the name "io" for its planned AI hardware devices. That's according to a court filing submitted as part of a trademark lawsuit brought by audio startup iyO, Wired reports. OpenAI had already scrubbed references to the project back in June 2025.
OpenAI VP Peter Welinder said the company reviewed its naming strategy and decided against "io." OpenAI also revealed that its first hardware device won't ship until the end of February 2027 at the earliest - later than previously indicated. No packaging or marketing materials exist yet.
OpenAI acquired the hardware startup from former Apple designer Jony Ive for $6.5 billion in May 2025. Over the weekend, a fake Super Bowl ad allegedly showing OpenAI's device made the rounds online. OpenAI spokesperson Lindsay McCallum told Wired the company had nothing to do with it.
