Updated
Updated · OpenAI · Jul 9
OpenAI Doubles Bio Bug Bounty to $50,000, Makes GPT-5.6 Program Ongoing
Updated
Updated · OpenAI · Jul 9

OpenAI Doubles Bio Bug Bounty to $50,000, Makes GPT-5.6 Program Ongoing

1 articles · Updated · OpenAI · Jul 9

Summary

  • OpenAI turned its GPT-5.5 Bio Bug Bounty into a standing private program, with researchers now testing frontier models for universal jailbreaks that bypass predefined biosafety challenges.
  • The top payout rose to $50,000 from $25,000 for universal jailbreaks on both GPT-5.6 and GPT-5.5, while OpenAI said smaller awards may be granted for partial wins.
  • July 27, 2026 is the cutoff for the original GPT-5.5 testing scope; after that, only GPT-5.6 remains in scope unless OpenAI announces further changes.
  • Accepted applicants enter through a rolling application process, must already have ChatGPT accounts, and will sign NDAs; past GPT-5.5 applicants do not need to reapply.
  • The expansion embeds the bounty into OpenAI's longer-term biology safety efforts as it prepares newer frontier models for ongoing external stress-testing.

Insights

Is a $50,000 reward enough to stop AI jailbreaks from being used to create biological weapons?
If universal jailbreaks are architecturally 'unsolvable,' can any bounty program truly make frontier AI models safe from misuse?