The competition in the AI race has intensified with a focus on redefined baselines instead of making incremental feature changes or upgrades. Industry insiders claim OpenAI is preparing to do exactly that with its next model. According to reports, it is widely expected to launch as ChatGPT 5.5.
The next codename is "Spud"; this model is a bump, but it is being positioned internally. Pretraining was already completed in March. This is built for a fundamentally different approach to building and deploying AI models.
According to Greg Brockman, "It's not an incremental improvement; it’s a significant change in the way we think about model development.”
Native multimodality would be one of the most anticipated upgrades of ChatGPT 5.5. Unlike earlier models that stitched together capabilities, ChatGPT 5.5 is expected to seamlessly handle text, images, audio, and video within a single system.
Now users won’t need to switch tools or rigidly structure inputs. The model is also expected to improve contextual understanding; that means fewer prompts, less repetition, and more natural interactions. This tool could shift AI from a tool to a collaborator with minimal instruction
Timing is where speculation turns interesting. With pretraining complete, OpenAI’s typical 3–6 week safety evaluation cycle places the release window between mid-April and early May 2026. Prediction markets are more confident about April 23, as trading volume is strong.
This date also aligns with the "ThursdAI" pattern; OpenAI frequently makes its announcements on Thursdays. Still, this is not locked. AI model releases are notoriously sensitive to last-minute safety or performance issues, and delays remain a real possibility.
If ChatGPT 5.5 delivers even a fraction of its expected features, it won't merely raise expectations; it will reset them. This means competitors will no longer simply react to specific features; instead, they will have to compete against a new standard of interaction. And that is where the real disruption will begin.
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