OpenAI might be testing GPT-5.1-mini upgrade for ChatGPT

On Friday, October 24, a new model appeared briefly in ChatGPT’s model selector, labeled as “GPT-5 Mini Scout.” This model was visible for some business account users and sparked immediate discussion about its purpose, especially given the near-simultaneous launch of the Company Knowledge feature for ChatGPT Team and Enterprise. There was speculation that this model could be tied directly to that feature, potentially providing the underlying capabilities for improved enterprise workflows. The feature itself is designed for internal company Q&A and documentation, appearing in the business version of the platform.

Shortly after, an update to OpenAI’s official JavaScript agent library surfaced, adding a reference to “GPT-5.1 Mini” in a test file. While this was only found in test code, the explicit expectation of the model’s presence in the list strongly suggests that “GPT-5.1 Mini” is the intended production name for the model previously spotted as “Mini Scout.”

This PR has been overridden later, and it is unclear whether it was just a hallucination or an accidental push.

Notably, the SVG Robot Benchmark (tested during the brief access window) showed substantial progress: the model produced an animated robot image, a notable step up from GPT-5 Mini Thinking, and with unique design choices (e.g., a square robot with an eye, deviating from standard outputs). This suggests new image generation capabilities or tweaks to the underlying model architecture.

While the broader release timing for GPT-5.1 Mini remains unclear, as well as the versioning, the public sighting, library update, and performance jump all point to an imminent rollout, possibly within November. OpenAI may be preparing to launch this model as a response to Google’s highly anticipated Gemini 3, aiming to maintain leadership as new benchmarks are set by competitors. For users in enterprise and creative domains, the evolution promises expanded functionality and potentially new tools for company data, code, and visual asset workflows.