OpenAI has officially unveiled an upgraded version of GPT-Rosalind, its specialised AI model designed for life sciences research. The latest update combines the reasoning and coding abilities of GPT 5.5 with stronger expertise in fields such as drug discovery, medicinal chemistry, genomics and biological data analysis and aim to help researchers accelerate scientific workflows and uncover insights faster.
The company says the new GPT-Rosalind delivers improved performance across a wide range of scientific tasks, from analysing complex biological datasets and troubleshooting laboratory experiments to assisting with drug development and experimental design. The model is being made available through a research preview programme under OpenAI’s controlled access framework for organisations involved in legitimate scientific research.
To evaluate the model’s capabilities, the company introduced a new benchmark called LifeSciBench, which was developed with input from life sciences experts. The benchmark measures performance across six key areas of scientific research, including evidence evaluation, analysis, scientific reasoning, experimental validation and communication. According to OpenAI, GPT-Rosalind outperformed both GPT-5.5 and competing AI models across these categories.
Also read: Google unveils Gemma 4 12B, a local AI model for everyday PCs: Here is what it can do
The company also claimed that it has gained in medicinal chemistry, where the model demonstrated stronger reasoning around drug optimisation, toxicity prediction and molecular design. In genomics and quantitative biology, GPT-Rosalind reportedly delivered higher accuracy while using fewer computational resources than GPT-5.5. OpenAI further claims the model performs better in real-world laboratory support tasks, including identifying experimental issues and suggesting protocol improvements.
Alongside the model update, OpenAI has introduced new life sciences tools within Codex, its AI-powered workspace. These include plugins designed for biological research and next-generation sequencing analysis, enabling researchers to combine literature reviews, biological interpretation and bioinformatics workflows in a single environment.
OpenAI confirmed that pharmaceutical giant Novo Nordisk is among the organisations exploring GPT-Rosalind to support medical research and accelerate the analysis of complex scientific data. The company says it plans to continue expanding access while improving the model’s biological reasoning and research capabilities.