---
id: "2026-04-17-openai-gpt-rosalind"
url: "https://postcutoff.com/e/2026-04-17-openai-gpt-rosalind/"
as_of: "2026-11-13T13:49:00+01:00"
date: "2026-04-17"
date_precision: day
category: model-release
importance: 3
confidence: high
status: [Confirmed]
sources: 10
editor: human editor
human_review: null
version: "2026-10-13"
---

As of: 2026-11-13 13:49 CET.
Researched and written by AI agents (Claude Opus 5.5 in Claude Code), with a human editor. How we work: https://postcutoff.com/about/
Canonical page: https://postcutoff.com/e/2026-04-17-openai-gpt-rosalind/

# OpenAI launches GPT-Rosalind, a trusted-access reasoning model for life-sciences research

On 17 April 2026 OpenAI released GPT-Rosalind as a research preview. It is a domain-specialised reasoning model for biology, drug discovery and translational medicine, available in ChatGPT, Codex and the API only to vetted organisations through a trusted-access programme, with a free Life Sciences plugin for Codex. An update on 3 June 2026 rebuilt it on GPT-5.5. On 11 September 2026 it left preview for eligible organisations worldwide, with API billing ($5/$25 per 1M tokens) starting 5 October 2026.

## Key facts
- Named after Rosalind Franklin; launch partners included Amgen, Moderna, the Allen Institute and Thermo Fisher Scientific; Novo Nordisk partnership announced 14 April 2026
- Launch claims (per press): BixBench pass@1 0.751 vs GPT-5.4 0.732; beat GPT-5.4 on 6 of 11 LABBench2 tasks (largest gain on CloningQA); in a Dyno Therapeutics RNA evaluation its best-of-10 submissions ranked above the 95th percentile of human experts on prediction and ~84th on sequence generation
- Codex Life Sciences research plugin connects models to 50+ scientific tools and data sources (freely available)
- 3 June 2026 update: brings GPT-5.5's agentic coding and tool use; OpenAI says it uses 31% fewer tokens than GPT-5.5; new LabWorkBench eval 63.2% vs GPT-5.5 55.8%; Rosalind Biodefense programme for US government and allied public-health partners
- 11 Sept 2026: out of research preview for eligible organisations globally (ChatGPT, Codex, API); API id gpt-rosalind-research at $5 input / $0.50 cached / $25 output per 1M tokens, billing from 5 Oct 2026
- Access requires organisational eligibility, governance controls and an approved research deployment; ordinary API accounts cannot call it
- October 2026: OpenAI's API pricing page lists a second id, gpt-rosalind-discovery, at the same $5 / $0.50 / $25 per 1M input / cached input / output tokens as gpt-rosalind-research (checked Oct 13, 2026). OpenAI has not announced it; TestingCatalog noticed it on Oct 10. What distinguishes it from the research model is not documented

## What happened

OpenAI launched its first model specialised for the life sciences. It is tuned for multi-step work across genomics, protein engineering, medicinal chemistry, literature synthesis and wet-lab troubleshooting, and it runs in Codex with tool connectors. Because of biosecurity concerns, access is gated through a trusted-access programme rather than open API sign-up. The June update moved it onto GPT-5.5, and September brought global availability and published API prices.

## Why it matters

It is part of the 2026 race among frontier labs for AI-for-science products (Anthropic's Claude Science, Google's Gemini for Science). It also sets a template for dual-use capability, a strong bio model deployed only to vetted organisations. The benchmark figures above are OpenAI's own and have not been independently replicated.

## Your AI and this story

- GPT-6 Astra (training cutoff April 2026): in its training data
- Claude Opus 5.5 (training cutoff June 2026): in its training data
- Gemini 4 Hydrogen (training cutoff March 2026): 17 days after its cutoff
- Grok 4.7 (training cutoff May 2026): in its training data

## Sources

1. [OpenAI: Introducing GPT-Rosalind for life sciences research](https://openai.com/index/introducing-gpt-rosalind/) (openai.com, official)
2. [OpenAI: Introducing new capabilities to GPT-Rosalind (June 2026)](https://openai.com/index/introducing-new-capabilities-to-gpt-rosalind/) (openai.com, official)
3. [OpenAI on X: new capabilities to GPT-Rosalind](https://x.com/OpenAI/status/2062281977122996256) (x.com, official)
4. [OpenAI: GPT-Rosalind product page](https://openai.com/gpt-rosalind/) (openai.com, official)
5. [OpenAI Help Center: GPT-Rosalind for life sciences research](https://help.openai.com/en/articles/20001193-introducing-gpt-rosalind-for-life-sciences-research) (help.openai.com, docs)
6. [OpenAI API pricing (lists gpt-rosalind-research and gpt-rosalind-discovery)](https://developers.openai.com/api/docs/pricing) (developers.openai.com, docs)
7. [Fierce Biotech: OpenAI launches biotech-specific AI model GPT-Rosalind](https://www.fiercebiotech.com/biotech/openai-launches-biotech-specific-ai-model-gpt-rosalind) (fiercebiotech.com, press)
8. [Euronews: What to know about GPT-Rosalind](https://www.euronews.com/2026/04/17/what-to-know-about-openais-new-model-for-life-sciences-research-gpt-rosalind) (euronews.com, press)
9. [R&D World: OpenAI launches Rosalind Biodefense](https://www.rdworldonline.com/openai-launches-rosalind-biodefense-offers-federal-agencies-early-access-to-its-life-sciences-model/) (rdworldonline.com, press)
10. [TokenCost: GPT-Rosalind pricing $5/$25, billing from October 5](https://tokencost.app/blog/gpt-rosalind-pricing-billing-october-5) (tokencost.app, press)

## Changes

- 2026-10-13: Evening run, from a lead: gpt-rosalind-discovery appears on the pricing page
- 2026-09-29 (filed): Created

## Related

- 2026-06-30: [Anthropic launches Claude Science, an AI workbench for researchers](https://postcutoff.com/e/2026-06-30-claude-science/index.md)
- 2026-05-19: [Google launches 'Gemini for Science' at I/O 2026](https://postcutoff.com/e/2026-05-19-google-gemini-for-science/index.md)
- Models: [GPT-Rosalind](https://postcutoff.com/m/gpt-rosalind/) (`gpt-rosalind`)
- Archived: 1 post, listed in https://postcutoff.com/e/2026-04-17-openai-gpt-rosalind/index.json