If you thought AI was already reshaping cybersecurity, the latest update from OpenAI shows the real disruption is only beginning. The company’s newest evaluations reveal that its frontier models are gaining cyber skills at an astonishing pace. GPT 5 scored 27 percent on CTF style assessments in August. By November, GPT 5.1 Codex Max had surged to 76 percent. This rapid leap signals a future where AI does not simply assist with security tasks, it becomes an active cyber operator.

This escalation brings both opportunity and risk. OpenAI says upcoming models may reach high capability levels where they can detect zero days or meaningfully assist in complex intrusion operations. To ensure such power is not misused, the company is reinforcing a multilayered safety stack that blends access controls, advanced monitoring, training strategies, and full spectrum red teaming designed to mimic determined adversaries.

At the same time, OpenAI is investing heavily in tools that give defenders a much needed advantage. Aardvark, the company’s agentic security researcher, is now in private beta and has already identified new vulnerabilities across open source ecosystems. A trusted access program is being developed to provide vetted cyber defenders with enhanced capabilities. A Frontier Risk Council will guide decisions on which capabilities help strengthen security, and which ones pose unacceptable exposure.

Alongside these measures, OpenAI is collaborating across the industry through the Frontier Model Forum to build shared threat models and consistent best practices. The goal is to ensure critical insights move quickly throughout the ecosystem so defenders stay ahead of the curve.

The takeaway for this week, AI’s cyber abilities are accelerating quickly, and OpenAI wants to channel that power toward reinforcing global defense, not enabling new attack paths.

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