OpenAI has rolled out one of its most significant ChatGPT upgrades in months, launching GPT-5.2 at a time when the global AI race is picking up speed again. The company has faced mounting pressure since Google released Gemini 3, which earned strong reviews for accuracy and reasoning. GPT-5.2 appears to be OpenAI’s answer to this growing rivalry.
The latest version is designed to make ChatGPT more accurate, more reliable, and more practical for day-to-day tasks whether someone is building spreadsheets, handling research, or writing complex code. While GPT-5.2 is the main announcement, another upcoming feature is attracting equal attention: a new “adult mode” that will only be available to verified adults starting early next year.
GPT-5.2 Delivers Faster Performance and Stronger Reasoning
According to OpenAI, GPT-5.2 offers quicker responses, better information retrieval, and a major improvement in deep reasoning. The model has been rebuilt to take on longer and more technical workloads in areas like math, science, and programming. The goal is to shift ChatGPT from feeling like a simple chatbot to acting more like a trustworthy, high-level work assistant.
The update is being released in three different tiers, each optimized for specific performance needs and computing costs.
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman Urges Team to Keep Up With Google
The timing of this launch follows comments from OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, who recently pushed his team to accelerate development as Google continues advancing its AI technologies.
Google can rely on huge advertising revenues to support long-term AI research. OpenAI, by contrast, has already invested tens of billions of dollars into computing infrastructure and still has not become profitable.
In a CNBC interview, Altman said, “We are confident we can continue to drive the revenue growth to meet” the rising costs of computing. He added that without these investments, “of course, we can’t drive the revenue growth, but we see way more reasons to be optimistic than reasons to be pessimistic.”
Google Surpassed GPT-5.1 and OpenAI Responds
The launch of GPT-5.2 follows weeks of comparisons that showed Google’s Gemini 3 Pro outperforming the previous GPT-5.1 in multimodal reasoning and complex, messy-data tasks. Gemini 3 also jumped to the top of the LMArena leaderboard.
Users running their own tests reported that Google’s model outshined GPT-5.1. Some also noticed that earlier versions of ChatGPT were more prone to hallucinating or giving shallow answers instead of staying fully grounded—an area where Gemini 3 performed better.
In this context, OpenAI has released GPT-5.2. Early evaluations show clear improvements over the previous generation, but it still remains uncertain whether the model can surpass Gemini 3 in the near future.
ChatGPT’s ‘Adult Mode’ Coming Soon
During a media briefing, OpenAI’s chief of applications, Fidji Simo, announced that the company expects to launch a new ChatGPT “adult mode” early next year. She emphasized that better age-verification systems must be in place before the feature becomes available.
This update follows Sam Altman’s earlier statement that OpenAI plans to ease restrictions to allow verified adults to engage in erotic conversations with ChatGPT.
Google’s Major Comeback Reshapes the AI Race
Only a month ago, Google released its newest Gemini model, marking a strong comeback after being criticized for lagging behind since ChatGPT’s surprise emergence three years earlier. The upgrade underlines Google’s renewed force in its ongoing battle with OpenAI to dominate the AI landscape.
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