OpenAI unveils ChatGPT 5.2: Top features explained and how it compares to Google Gemini 3
OpenAI is releasing ChatGPT 5.2, equipped with improved logic, advanced coding tools, and a wider context window, without changing pricing or subscription access.
After several weeks of internal Code Red urgency and high-risk preparation, OpenAI has unveiled its latest and most powerful frontier model, ChatGPT 5.2. This new update is OpenAI’s answer to Google Gemini 3, which has been garnering a lot of buzz ever since its launch. According to OpenAI, with ChatGPT 5.2, users can expect smoother workflow automation, faster response times, and fewer mistakes.
OpenAI says ChatGPT 5.2 is designed to be more useful for people working with large amounts of information, code or creative content. The new language system promises to bring significant improvements to tasks such as creating spreadsheets, preparing presentations, writing software, analyzing images, and managing longer, more complex instructions.
ChatGPT 5.2 Top Features
1. Three model modes: Instant, Thinking and Pro
One of the biggest changes in ChatGPT 5.2 is the introduction of three model modes.
– quick mode: Instant is built for speed, designed for quick replies and lightweight tasks where users don’t need deep logic.
– Thinking Mode: According to OpenAI, this mode sacrifices slightly slower performance to produce stronger logic, better reasoning, and more reliable results, especially for knowledge-heavy work or multi-step tasks.
– Pro Mode: And then there is the Pro mode which according to the company is for users who require maximum accuracy and deeper analytical output.
2. A very large context window
On the technical side, ChatGPT 5.2 gets a major upgrade with a 400,000-token context window, allowing it to process and retain far more information within a single session. This means that the model can now handle long legal documents, research papers, transcripts or large datasets without requiring users to break them into smaller parts. OpenAI also reports early improvements in speed and latency, making ChatGPT 5.2 better suited for companies running AI inside real-time or high-volume systems.
3. Better for larger, more complex projects
OpenAI says ChatGPT 5.2 is better equipped for professional-grade workloads. It offers improvements in handling multi-step assignments like debugging, writing production-level code, creating automations, and generating full reports or assembling entire presentations. The model is also said to be designed to work more reliably with “long-running agents”, meaning automated workflows that carry out multiple steps in sequence without requiring repeated user prompts.
4. Advanced Image and Document Understanding
Another notable improvement in OpenAI’s latest and most capable GPT model is visual and long document understanding. OpenAI says ChatGPT 5.2 performs better when interpreting images, reading charts, and analyzing long or detailed documents. This means users should get more accurate information from complex content, making it useful for data analysis, design, research, and education, where AI often needs to understand far more than simple text.
How does ChatGPT 5.2 compare to Google Gemini 3
The launch of ChatGPT 5.2 follows multiple reports of “code red” urgency within OpenAI and increasing pressure from the growing popularity of Google’s Gemini 3. In short, ChatGPT 5.2 is OpenAI’s direct answer to Google’s most advanced model, which the company describes as its “most intelligent” system to date.
When it comes to comparisons, the two companies highlight different strengths, and early benchmarking shows a mixed picture rather than a clear leader. On the LMArena leaderboard, GPT-5.2 performs remarkably well in web development and logic-heavy tasks, while Gemini 3 holds the lead in several multimodal evaluations, including vision and multimedia analysis.
Google reports that Gemini 3 scores 91.8 percent on MMMLU, a widely used benchmark for cognitive and reasoning. OpenAI’s ChatGPT 5.2 is listed at 89.6 percent. These figures show that both models match well, with differences only becoming significant in specialized or professional scenarios.
There are also practical differences in the construction and positioning of the two systems. Gemini 3 includes basic image and video generation, while ChatGPT users need a separate tool like Sora for video.
Both models are also available via API and enterprise offering, but their ecosystems are different. Google leans more toward multimedia tools, while OpenAI focuses on productivity workflows, long-running agents, and task automation.
ChatGPT 5.2 Pricing and Availability
The new ChatGPT 5.2 upgrade is being released first to ChatGPT Plus, Pro, Business, and Enterprise customers, with broader availability expected later. In the meantime, developers can also start using the new GPT model via the API, which follows a per-million-token pricing model.
ChatGPT 5.2 is now available to paid ChatGPT users and via the API. Pricing through the API starts at $1.75 per million output tokens, which roughly matches Google’s Gemini 3 Pro tier.
How to use ChatGPT 5.2
For regular users, if you are a paid ChatGPT customer, ChatGPT 5.2 will automatically appear as one of the model options available on the website version or app. You can select it from the Model menu and switch between the new Instant, Thinking and Pro modes, depending on whether you need fast reactions, deep reasoning or high accuracy.
