By Ken Muthomi - Reporter
USA, August 10,2026 - OpenAI has launched a new cybersecurity model, GPT-5.6-Cyber, designed to help security researchers identify vulnerabilities and conduct advanced cybersecurity testing, even as cybersecurity risks continue to increase in the technology ecosystem.
OpenAI said on Monday that the model is being made available through Daybreak Red, a new access tier under OpenAI’s Daybreak programme that gives approved researchers and defenders access to purpose-trained cybersecurity models for authorised vulnerability research and security testing.
“The cybersecurity world is rapidly changing—threat actors will increasingly use AI to conduct cyberattacks at unprecedented speed and scale, including in fully autonomous ways,” the company stated.
“As these capabilities spread, defenders have a narrowing window to prepare. Our answer is to put frontier intelligence in the hands of trusted defenders everywhere before attackers deploy offensive AI capabilities at scale,” it added.
OpenAI said GPT-5.6-Cyber is built on GPT-5.6 Sol and has been specifically trained to improve performance on specialised cybersecurity tasks, including finding zero-day vulnerabilities and developing exploit chains.
The model is also designed to minimise refusals when it is handling some higher-risk, dual-use cybersecurity tasks executed by trusted defenders.
According to OpenAI, GPT-5.6-Cyber completed 95 per cent of requests in its internal Advanced Cybersecurity Completion Rate evaluation, which measures performance on scenarios including exploit-chain development, authentication bypass and privilege escalation.
Furthermore, the company has said that the model was actually used by researchers to uncover two previously unknown vulnerabilities in V8, the JavaScript engine used by Chrome, and at least five vulnerabilities in a popular mobile operating system, among others
The second tier, Daybreak Blue, provides access to frontier general-purpose models, including GPT-5.6 Sol, with safeguards tailored for authorised defensive security work. It is intended for activities such as vulnerability discovery, secure code review, malware analysis, incident response and patch validation.
Access to Daybreak Blue and Daybreak Red is restricted to approved individuals and organisations conducting authorised work, with OpenAI using identity verification, account security, monitoring, approved-use restrictions and legal attestations to control access.
“We recommend Daybreak Blue as the starting point for most defenders. Teams whose authorized work includes advanced vulnerability research, exploit development, or red teaming can request Daybreak Red access for our most advanced cyber models,” the company stated.
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