This is actually a downgrade for free users since currently it uses GPT-5.5 for a few messages before it drops you down to GPT-5.5-mini. Now it always uses a model worse than Mini (Luna is nano-equivalent, "It roughly corresponds to the nano model tier used in earlier GPT-5 families." https://developers.openai.com/api/docs/models/gpt-5.6-luna ). I guess it's a bit better with Thinking though. They should use Terra for a few messages first before dropping down to Luna. And image inputs are still limited.
Improving GPT‑5.6 Sol in ChatGPT, expanding GPT‑5.6 Luna access for free users
61–70 of 281 posts
Re: Improving GPT‑5.6 Sol in ChatGPT, expanding GPT‑5.6 Luna access for free users
#62Earlier quoted context omitted.
Going from 5.5 Instant (which was noticeably bad) to 5.6 Luna is a big jump as well. OpenAI is probably the most prominent among the general public - an advantage in some respects but they're giving away a lot of free inference and thus have to use a pretty small model to do it.
I really don't see how they're going to be google here. The free tier is dominated by verticle integration and the platform that people use. Long term I imagine google wins the bottom of the market and I'd be suprised if they lost.
People tell these models everything. You don't think a pretty unethical company can figure out a way to monetize that?
Re: Improving GPT‑5.6 Sol in ChatGPT, expanding GPT‑5.6 Luna access for free users
#63Earlier quoted context omitted.
Because the model can't read your mind and know if you want a quick answer, or an hour long deep dive.
Then it should just ask the user what they want if its unclear from the context.
So instead of just getting an answer, I have to wait until it asks me, and I have to type back a response? Extremely annoying.
Re: Improving GPT‑5.6 Sol in ChatGPT, expanding GPT‑5.6 Luna access for free users
#64> Our mission is to ensure that artificial general intelligence benefits all of humanity. We’re introducing updates to ChatGPT that improve everyday conversations while expanding access for Free users. This clearly implies that they believe ChatGPT models are AGI and are now willing to say it out loud. Which I think is a fair interpretation of the term. They are general purpose intelligence in that you can get help f…
>It also needs to be differentiated from ASI with godlike powers many times greater than human.
Wasn't there a thread the other day about how very few humans on earth can understand the new math proofs?
Although "with sufficient study" vs "not even with unlimited study" are probably worth distinguishing there.
Re: Improving GPT‑5.6 Sol in ChatGPT, expanding GPT‑5.6 Luna access for free users
#65Re: Improving GPT‑5.6 Sol in ChatGPT, expanding GPT‑5.6 Luna access for free users
#66Giving free ChatGPT users access to reasoning (the 'Think' toggle) will have a broader impact on the world than every new paid model and coding agent combined.
Free users have had access to reasoning for a while. o4-mini and the initial GPT-5 launch both included reasoning modes for free users.
They took away the button a few months ago and are now putting it back.
Re: Improving GPT‑5.6 Sol in ChatGPT, expanding GPT‑5.6 Luna access for free users
#67Earlier quoted context omitted.
No, Luna is the new free model. https://gist.github.com/simonw/aae4febd3c6f7bc5b7811857edb3c... has screenshots that still show "Instant" as an option for ChatGPT Chat... but not for ChatGPT Work.
Hmm It’s hard to understand this .. like sure we can select instant but is there an actual model called 5.6 instant? Like is it on LM Arena and OpenRouter or available via API etc 5.5 instant is definitely A Thing it’s even name checked in this OAI post
It's SO hard to understand this. I couldn't confidently explain it at all.
Re: Improving GPT‑5.6 Sol in ChatGPT, expanding GPT‑5.6 Luna access for free users
#68> Our mission is to ensure that artificial general intelligence benefits all of humanity. We’re introducing updates to ChatGPT that improve everyday conversations while expanding access for Free users. This clearly implies that they believe ChatGPT models are AGI and are now willing to say it out loud. Which I think is a fair interpretation of the term. They are general purpose intelligence in that you can get help f…
>It also needs to be differentiated from ASI with godlike powers many times greater than human. Wasn't there a thread the other day about how very few humans on earth can understand the new math proofs? Although "with sufficient study" vs "not even with unlimited study" are probably worth distinguishing there.
Which brings up another point in that we should have a term that distinguished between super intelligence in some capacity and godlike super intelligence.
Re: Improving GPT‑5.6 Sol in ChatGPT, expanding GPT‑5.6 Luna access for free users
#69Earlier quoted context omitted.
Going from 5.5 Instant (which was noticeably bad) to 5.6 Luna is a big jump as well. OpenAI is probably the most prominent among the general public - an advantage in some respects but they're giving away a lot of free inference and thus have to use a pretty small model to do it.
I really don't see how they're going to be google here. The free tier is dominated by verticle integration and the platform that people use. Long term I imagine google wins the bottom of the market and I'd be suprised if they lost.
Ads.
Re: Improving GPT‑5.6 Sol in ChatGPT, expanding GPT‑5.6 Luna access for free users
#70While their math results are impressive, vibe coding their own web UIs with their subpar design models is really going to backfire if their plan is to attract new users with better free model offerings.
The Aug 6 update has forced the entry box to auto-format Markdown in an attempt to imitate Claude. The implementation is buggy and even simple copy-and-paste has gone entirely haywire. They also forgot to leave a switch to turn the confounded autoformatting thing off.
Chat mode in general is currently crawling with more UX bugs than a porch screen in summer.