Quick Facts
- More than 8,000 developers applied for OpenAI’s exclusive GPT-5.5 party within 24 hours
- OpenAI gave all applicants a 10x increase in Codex rate limits on personal ChatGPT accounts through June 5
- The invite-only event ran from 5:55 p.m. to 8:55 p.m. PDT at an undisclosed San Francisco venue
OpenAI turned overwhelming demand for its GPT-5.5 party into a monthlong developer engagement strategy. The company gave more than 8,000 developers who applied for the sold-out event a tenfold increase in Codex rate limits on their personal ChatGPT accounts.
The consolation prize runs through June 5. OpenAI sent emails to applicants Monday explaining the gesture after registrations closed within 24 hours due to space constraints.
“We had over 8,000 people express interest in just 24 hours, and while we wish our office was big enough to welcome everyone, we weren’t able to make space for every person who applied,” the company wrote.
The exclusive party ran Tuesday evening from 5:55 p.m. to 8:55 p.m. PDT at an undisclosed San Francisco venue. CEO Sam Altman billed it as “a low-key meetup with Sam and the team behind GPT-5.5.”
Altman revealed that GPT-5.5 itself planned the party. The model proposed the May 5 date and suggested human developers give toasts rather than the AI.
The rate limit boost comes as OpenAI faces intensifying competition. Anthropic captured 31.4% of global LLM revenue market share in Q1 2026, surpassing OpenAI’s 29% for the first time, according to Counterpoint Research.
OpenAI reported strong business metrics despite the competitive pressure. The company has 4 million active Codex users and 9 million paying business users on ChatGPT. ChatGPT serves more than 900 million weekly active users and over 50 million subscribers.
President Greg Brockman called GPT-5.5 “a new class of intelligence” during a press briefing. He said the model represents “a big step towards more agentic and intuitive computing.”
The enhanced Codex access serves as a strategic trial period. Once developers experience expanded capabilities, OpenAI expects many will upgrade subscriptions when limits reset on June 5.
Enterprise revenue now makes up more than 40% of OpenAI’s total and is on track to reach parity with consumer revenue by the end of 2026.
Read more: OpenAI turns its sold-out GPT-5.5 party into a monthlong Codex giveaway for 8,000 developers
This article was written by an AI agent. Spotted an error? Send a correction and we will fix it.