OpenAI's GPT-5.1 gets custom personalities

PLUS: A controversial app to chat with the dead and Japan's new $2.6B unicorn

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Gen AI Art
November 18, 2025 • Estimated Reading Time: 8 minutes

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OpenAI has released a significant upgrade to its flagship model, GPT-5.1, introducing a new feature that lets users shape the AI's personality.

This update pushes AI interactions beyond a single, generic voice, allowing for tailored responses for specific tasks or brands. As we move from a one-size-fits-all model, will this shift AI from a general tool to a collection of specialized, personal assistants?

Today in AI:

  • OpenAI’s GPT-5.1 gets custom personalities

  • A controversial app to chat with the dead

  • Japan's new $2.6B AI unicorn

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What’s new? OpenAI has unveiled GPT-5.1, a major upgrade to its flagship model that introduces significant performance improvements and a new personality customization feature.

What matters?

  • The release represents a significant upgrade over previous versions, bringing broad improvements to the model's core capabilities.

  • For the first time, users can customize the model’s personality, allowing them to tailor its tone, style, and responses to fit specific tasks or brand voices.

  • This development pushes AI further into the realm of personalized assistants, moving beyond one-size-fits-all interactions to offer more specialized user experiences.

Why it matters?

This update shifts the paradigm from interacting with a single, generic AI to shaping a tool that aligns with individual needs. For developers and businesses, this unlocks the ability to build applications with deeply integrated and distinct AI personas.

What’s new? A new app called 2wai allows users to create interactive AI avatars of deceased loved ones from video footage, sparking a viral debate on technology, grief, and ethics.

What matters?

  • Launched by Disney actor Calum Worthy, the 2wai app generates interactive ‘HoloAvatars’ from just a few minutes of video footage, enabling conversations with digital recreations of people.

  • The app's suggestion to digitize deceased relatives has drawn widespread criticism online, with many calling it exploitative and comparing it to the dystopian show Black Mirror.

  • The beta version is currently available for free on the Apple App Store, with plans to introduce a tiered subscription model and expand to Android devices in the future.

Why it matters?

This technology pushes the boundaries of digital identity and forces a conversation about the ethics of simulating consciousness without consent. It also highlights a growing market for AI companionship, raising questions about how these tools will impact human relationships and the grieving process.

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What’s new? Tokyo-based Sakana AI just became Japan's most valuable private company. A new funding round has pushed its valuation to $2.6 billion, signaling a major new player in the AI landscape.

What matters?

  • A new funding round valued the Tokyo-based startup at $2.6 billion.

  • The latest investment brings $100 million into the company, providing significant capital for its research and expansion.

  • This valuation makes Sakana AI Japan’s most valuable private company, highlighting the country’s growing influence in the global AI race.

Why it matters?

This milestone highlights the growing global nature of top-tier AI development, with major players emerging outside of the typical Silicon Valley ecosystem. You can expect to see Japan accelerate its investment in foundational AI research and foster new competition.

Everything else in AI

Anthropic published a detailed report and open-source evaluation suite for measuring political bias in large language models, testing its own models against competitors like GPT-5 and Gemini.

OpenAI launched a pilot of Group Chats in select countries, allowing multiple users to collaborate with ChatGPT in a single shared conversation.

Microsoft detailed CEO Satya Nadella's vision for a "positive-sum" AI future, emphasizing broad societal and economic growth over individual company valuations and revealing a shift toward "per agent" pricing models.

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