ChatGPT gets major update (GPT-5.2) as OpenAI battles Google in AI arms race

OpenAI has officially launched GPT-5.2, the latest iteration of its flagship AI model series and its answer to Google’s Gemini 3. The new model is meant to be faster, smarter, and more helpful for the complex, real-world queries with improvements in reasoning and long-document processing.

It is rolling out to ChatGPT’s paid subscribers as part of the Plus, Pro, Team, and Enterprise tiers, and developers via API. OpenAI provides GPT-5.2 in three models: GPT-5.2 Instant, GPT-5.2 Thinking, and GPT-5.2 Pro (is it just me, or does the naming sound similar to that of the Gemini models?).

GPT-5.2 is better at producing spreadsheets, presentations, code, and deep analysis of long-form content. OpenAI also claims improvements in handling longer context documents, calling tools (and deciding which one to call), multimodal inputs, and executing multi-step tasks.

GPT-5.2 improves long-form reliability

The thinking version of the AI model matches or exceeds human expertise in 70% of professional tasks (per the GDPval benchmarking platform) and produces output faster (often 11x faster). Those who’ve gained access to GPT-5.2 should expect the AI model to handle longer documents, such as research papers or technical manuals, without losing track or context. OpenAI has also deployed stronger guardrails against hallucination.

This should benefit people using the model to process legal, academic, or sales-specific documents that contain copious amounts of details. Further, the model should improve code dependency and debugging. With the improvements, GPT-5.2 has become more of a workplace-focused AI tool that can help professionals, business owners, and enterprises process back-end data and convert it into actionable insights for the workforce.

For everyday users, the new model should provide better assistance with complex tasks, while developers now have a stronger, more capable AI to integrate into their apps. OpenAI is also preparing to add an adult mode in early 2026. Meanwhile, GPT-5.1 will still be available to subscribers for three months (as a legacy model). Elsewhere, Google has also dropped its most advanced Deep Research agent, powered by the Gemini 3 Pro model, on the same day as OpenAI announced GPT-5.2.

Seems like we’ve entered an AI race, where both companies are trying to outdo each other, not just with raw intelligence and reasoning, but also with how much hands-on work their models can do for users.