OpenAI released GPT-5.5, a more efficient model excelling at coding, research, and multi-step agentic tasks with fewer tokens.
OpenAI announced GPT-5.5, positioning it as their most capable model for agentic workflows — handling multi-step tasks, tool use, and autonomous error correction. The model uses 'significantly fewer' tokens in Codex and rolls out to Plus, Pro, Business, and Enterprise ChatGPT tiers. A GPT-5.5 Pro variant is available to Pro, Business, and Enterprise users. This release follows GPT-5.4 just last month, accelerating OpenAI's release cadence amid intensifying competition with Anthropic.
GPT-5.5 claims meaningfully reduced token usage inside Codex, which directly cuts per-task API cost for any coding agent or code review pipeline. The model is designed to handle ambiguous multi-step tasks autonomously — plan, tool-use, self-check — without needing step-by-step prompting. If the token efficiency claims hold up, this changes the cost math on any agentic coding workflow you're running today.
Run your most expensive Codex prompt through GPT-5.5 this week, log the token count against your GPT-5.4 baseline, and calculate the monthly cost delta at your current request volume.
Suggested exercise · not independently tested. Access requirements and costs may vary.
Open your terminal and set your OpenAI API key: export OPENAI_API_KEY=your_key_here
Run: curl https://api.openai.com/v1/chat/completions -H 'Authorization: Bearer $OPENAI_API_KEY' -H 'Content-Type: application/json' -d '{"model": "gpt-5.5", "messages": [{"role": "user", "content": "Refactor this Python function to handle edge cases and add unit tests: def divide(a, b): return a/b"}]}'
Compare the usage.total_tokens field in the response against the same call with gpt-5.4
If token count is lower by more than 15%, recalculate your monthly Codex bill at current volume
Tags
Related