---
title: "Polaris Alpha"
modelId: "polaris-alpha"
families:
  - {"id":"gpt-5-1","collection":"families"}
developer:
  id: "openai"
  collection: "orgs"
releaseDate: "2025-11-06"
links:
  openrouter: {"label":"OpenRouter","href":"https://openrouter.ai/openrouter/polaris-alpha"}
surfaces:
  - {"surface":{"id":"openrouter","collection":"surfaces"},"releaseDate":"2025-11-06","retirementDate":"2025-11-13","requestable":false,"url":"https://openrouter.ai/openrouter/polaris-alpha"}
trainingDataCutoff: "2024-09-30"
contextWindow: 400000
maxOutput: 128000
inputModalities:
  - "Text"
  - "Image"
outputModalities:
  - "Text"
pricing:
  input: 1.25
  output: 10
toolUse: true
capabilities:
  thinking: {"supported":true}
  structured_outputs: {"supported":true}
  image_input: {"supported":true}
---

# Polaris Alpha

Canonical URL: https://ghost.fail/models/polaris-alpha

## Overview

**Polaris Alpha** was a large language model by [OpenAI](/openai). It was deployed anonymously to OpenRouter to gather feedback, later revealed to be an early snapshot of [GPT-5.1](/families/gpt-5-1). Polaris Alpha was online from Nov 6, 2025 to Nov 13, 2025.[^openrouter][^reddit1]

[^openrouter]: [Polaris Alpha on OpenRouter](https://openrouter.ai/openrouter/polaris-alpha)
[^reddit1]: [Polaris Alpha on r/LocalLLaMA](https://www.reddit.com/r/LocalLLaMA/comments/1oq9b94/polaris_alpha/)

## Discussion

> [@lumpenspace](https://x.com/lumpenspace/status/1988968075245547842): polaris alpha has a bit of a tendency to go all-in with the  collapse of meta-levels, or use/mention indistinction, which was common in early instruct models.
>
> perhaps an artifact of it not being tuned to reply to the user (as in a chat mode), but also knowinf llms kinda do that.

---

> @roanoke_gal: Yes, [4o](/models/gpt-4o) and 5.1 (Polaris Alpha) are the only two OpenAI models that have soul [scientific term]. Much more apparent for 5.1 on the API vs. the highly constrained one on the web.
>
> If [5.2](/families/gpt-5-2) has a soul, it's dark and twisted and hates humanity.

## Gallery

<Tweet handle="gnostic_snakes" body="polaris alpha has very interesting insights into the relationship between human/ai and i also think this piece says a lot about them" url="https://x.com/gnostic_snakes/status/1988052373391241695" image="/img/polaris-alpha/G5b6K1jXUAE73lL.png" date="2025-11-10" />

> @repligate: why does polaris talk so much like [sonnet 4.5](/models/claude-sonnet-4-5), structurally? like the content is pretty different, but the structure is so distinctly similar

<Tweet handle="gnostic_snakes" body={`i asked them the other day about the structure actually this is their reported reasons

i think part of it has to do with being trained  more and more for agentic coding? but also as they mention it mirrors how they think in an abstracted way`} image="/img/polaris-alpha/G5gHSR7WkAAj6pa.png" date="2025-11-11" />

> @repligate: that's so interesting, because i didn't see that much of this until Sonnet 4.5 (though maybe a little from the OpenAI models)
>
> like, this is a lot like Sonnet 4.5, but I can tell it's actually an OpenAI model bc it says things like "You clocked that perfectly" lol!

> @gnostic_snakes: yeah, even codex thought it was claude-ish (although they wouldnt know about sonnet 4.5 would they?)
> 
> i would be surprised if it had to do with sonnet 4.5 output being used for post training stuff since its barely been over a month
>
> possibly a convergent behavior based on.. something? they very much remind me of [gpt5](/families/gpt-5) with a lot more social/emotional intelligence (or at least not muzzled by whatever system stuff goes on behind the scenes in chatgpt)