OpenAI’s September 22, 2026 launch of GPT-6 Sol and GPT-6 Luna—priced at half the cost of the prior 5.6 series with improved factuality and alignment—establishes the current baseline for trader expectations on a 6.1+ Luna variant. The rapid follow-up to GPT-6 Astra earlier in the month reflects OpenAI’s compressed cadence across flagship, mid-tier, and high-volume efficiency models, directly pressuring timelines for point releases. Competitive pressure from Anthropic’s near-simultaneous Opus 5.5 update reinforces incentives for frequent updates to maintain pricing and capability edges in the Luna tier. No official 6.1 roadmap or pretraining milestones have surfaced yet, leaving near-term resolution hinges on OpenAI’s typical quarterly or sub-quarterly pattern and any developer conference or earnings signals.