The closed lab just reopened. openai released gpt-oss-120b and gpt-oss-20b under apache 2.0 on oct…
the closed lab just reopened. openai released gpt-oss-120b and gpt-oss-20b under apache 2.0 on oct 6, its first open-weights release since gpt-2.
the five-year wall now has a door.
Context
Verified event date: OpenAI released gpt-oss-120b and gpt-oss-20b on Aug 5, 2025, two open-weight reasoning models under the Apache 2.0 license (OpenAI's introduction post and model card, both Aug 5, 2025).
OpenAI's help center says they run on infrastructure you control or through hosting providers, and that Apache 2.0 allows broad use, modification and redistribution, including commercial use, subject to its gpt-oss usage policy.
The two model names, the sizes and the Apache 2.0 license match OpenAI's pages. The post says 'on oct 6'; the release is dated Aug 5, 2025, so the date is wrong by more than a year. 'First open-weights release since gpt-2' was not stated in the pages read and is not seen in the excerpts read, so unsupported here, not refuted. 'The five-year wall now has a door' is the author's.
'the closed lab just reopened' is the author's opinion.
Related work
- OpenAI: Introducing gpt-oss ↗Aug 5, 2025.
- OpenAI: gpt-oss-120b and gpt-oss-20b model card ↗Aug 5, 2025.
- OpenAI Help Center: open-weight models (gpt-oss) ↗License and serving.
Watch next
- Check what OpenAI released as open weights before gpt-oss.
Sources
- OpenAI, Introducing gpt-oss, Aug 5, 2025openai.com
- OpenAI model cardopenai.com
- GitHub, openai/gpt-ossgithub.com
Provenance
The note above is reproduced unedited from the original post, first published on Threads on 11 October 2026 at 08:47 IST. Sources are the papers and datasets the note draws on.
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