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 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 is rolling out ads in ChatGPT for users in the United States. The test targets logged-in adult users on the free and "Go" tiers. Plus, Pro, Business, Enterprise, and Education plans remain ad-free. Free-tier users can opt out of advertising, but doing so reduces their daily message allowance.

OpenAI says the decision comes down to high infrastructure costs. The company stresses that ads don't influence ChatGPT's responses, and conversations stay private. Which ad a user sees depends on the conversation topic, previous chats, and interactions.

Users under 18 won't see any ads, and ads won't appear around sensitive topics like health or politics. Users can hide individual ads, delete their ad data, and adjust personalization settings. Advertisers get aggregated performance statistics but have no access to chat logs or personal data, OpenAI says.

What will always remain true: ChatGPT’s answers remain independent and unbiased, conversations stay private, and people keep meaningful control over their experience.

Putting ads in chatbots is controversial, since the potential for manipulation is greater than with traditional search engines. OpenAI says it will keep ads clearly separated from content. Long term, the company plans to roll out additional ad formats.