OpenAI announces Ultrafast mode for GPT-5.6 Sol in limited preview
Ultrafast mode is a new API service tier for GPT-5.6 Sol that runs up to 14x faster than Standard processing, available to select customers.
Also shipped Aug 13, 2026OpenAI in August 2026 →
BigQuery pipelines add automated metadata enrichment in preview
Semantic metadata defined in SQLX configurations now syncs with Knowledge Catalog, and the Data Engineering Agent can generate this metadata from your intent or context.
Sharing tables backed by default storage will be enabled by default for all accounts
OpenSharing support for tables backed by default storage is generally available and on by default for most accounts. For most Enterprise or Premium tier accounts, Databricks will enable it automatically in mid-September 2026, and by early 2027 for the rest.
Expanded networking billing for OpenSharing SecureConnect
Databricks will be expanding networking billing for OpenSharing SecureConnect. Today, data providers are billed for data transfer (egress) when recipients access shared data through SecureConnect. Additional charge types and access scenarios, including charges billed to recipients, are planned.
OpenSharing SecureConnect will be available by default for all accounts
OpenSharing SecureConnect is generally available and available by default for accounts on the Premium plan. For accounts on the Enterprise plan, Databricks will enable it automatically in mid-September 2026, and by early 2027 for the rest.
Block or redact sensitive data in requests and responses
The Sensitive Data Detection guardrail (Beta) detects structured sensitive data (such as Social Security numbers, credit card numbers, IBANs, and phone numbers) and either blocks the interaction or redacts the matched values in place.
Smart Routing: Cut AI costs by routing each task to the right model
Smart Routing (Beta) automatically picks the right model and agent harness for each task, based on complexity, permissions, and budget. It shifts routine work to lower-cost models and reserves frontier models for hard problems, and every routing decision is visible and auditable.
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OpenAI Daybreak adds Blue and Red access tiers for defenders
Daybreak Blue gives approved defenders general-purpose models such as GPT-5.6 Sol for vulnerability discovery, code review and incident response, while Daybreak Red gives separately approved access to purpose-trained models.
OpenAI launches a Prompt Caching dashboard
The dashboard tracks cache hit rate over time, cache reads per write and the split of cache-read, cache-write and uncached tokens, filterable by model and service tier, to help improve caching efficiency.
OpenAI gpt-image-2 adds transparent backgrounds in preview
Set background to transparent with png or webp output in the Images API and Responses image tool for gpt-image-2 and gpt-image-2-2026-04-21. jpeg is not supported.
OpenAI updates chat-latest to the newest ChatGPT model
The chat-latest snapshot now points to the latest model in ChatGPT for Plus and Pro users and will be updated regularly. OpenAI recommends GPT-5.6 Sol for production API usage.
OpenAI API adds per-request regional processing via prefixed domains
Projects with Global geography can select regional processing for an individual request by calling a prefixed domain. Existing eligibility, retention, endpoint and model requirements still apply.
OpenAI cuts GPT-5.6 Sol pricing to $4 input and $20 output per MTok
GPT-5.6 Sol input pricing drops 20% and output pricing 33%. The promotional price runs at least through November 21, 2026.
OpenAI Fast mode supports long-context requests for GPT-5.6 models
Prompts over 272K tokens can now run in Fast mode on GPT-5.6 Sol, Terra and Luna, at up to 2.5x the speed of the Standard tier.
OpenAI Usage and Costs dashboards filter and group by API key
Usage and Costs dashboards and the Usage and Costs APIs now support an API key dimension for reporting and analysis.