OpenAI introduced GPT-6.1 Terra, a fast, efficient model that combines detailed visual reasoning and precise computer use alongside clearer, more natural writing. It is a significant step up from GPT-5.6 Terra and excels at communication and computer-based tasks that fill the workday, from drafting proposals and interpreting technical drawings to filling out forms and editing videos. Standard API prices are 50% lower than those of GPT-5.6 Terra and GPT-6.1 Sol.
Who this affects
- For exporters: Not specified in the record.
- For investors: Standard API pricing is $1 per million input tokens, $0.05 per million cached input tokens, and $5 per million output tokens; in ChatGPT Work and Codex the same usage allowance covers more tasks than with GPT-5.6 Terra and substantially more than with GPT-6.1 Sol or GPT-6 Astra.
- For counsel/compliance: GPT-6.1 Terra meets the Critical threshold in cybersecurity under the Preparedness Framework and maintains the protections developed for GPT-6 Astra; it brings alignment improvements of the GPT-6 series and showed strong resistance to malicious instructions in prompt-injection tests.
- For policymakers: Not specified in the record.
The read
The announcement frames GPT-6.1 Terra as advancing the cost-intelligence frontier by delivering higher benchmark results at lower token cost and higher speed. At medium reasoning effort it scores 15 percentage points higher than GPT-5.6 Terra at about one-third the cost and performs on par with GPT-6 Astra at one-tenth its price per token; at max effort it is over three times as token efficient as Claude Opus 5.5 at one-fourth its price per token for a ~9x lower cost per task, while completing tasks over three times faster than GPT-6 Astra and GPT-6.1 Sol. The documented pattern is the expansion of practical high-volume computer-use and visual-reasoning workloads onto a lower-priced tier without a stated reduction in the Critical cybersecurity threshold.
What was the action?
OpenAI introduced GPT-6.1 Terra. Starting today it is available to all Plus, Pro, Enterprise, and Edu users in ChatGPT Work and Codex. Developers can access it through the OpenAI API as gpt-6.1-terra.
What’s the penalty / scope, and how is it set?
No penalty. Standard API prices are 50% lower than those of GPT-5.6 Terra and GPT-6.1 Sol, set at $1 per million input tokens, $0.05 per million cached input tokens, and $5 per million output tokens. The same usage allowance in ChatGPT Work and Codex covers more tasks than with GPT-5.6 Terra.
Who else is exposed?
Not specified in the record beyond Plus, Pro, Enterprise, and Edu users of ChatGPT Work and Codex, and developers accessing the API as gpt-6.1-terra.
What happens next
Availability begins starting today in ChatGPT Work, Codex, and the API. Further detail on safety and alignment is available in the system card. Residual open questions on the record are the precise timing of full rollout across accounts and any subsequent updates to the system card.
Its standard API prices are 50% lower than those of GPT-5.6 Terra and GPT-6.1 Sol, making it practical for developers to automate high-volume work.OpenAI Introducing GPT-6.1 Terra →