Models · Updated 20 Oct, 10:10 pm IST

OpenAI says GPT-6 greatly improves handling of legacy languages like COBOL

Why it matters for readers: It shows progress in AI handling of less-common coding languages that still run important systems.

OpenAI improved GPT-6 models for low-resource programming languages including COBOL, Fortran and Visual Basic.1
On MultiLangBench, GPT-6 Astra and GPT-6.1 Sol reach about an 87 percent average test pass rate across 20 languages versus about 38 percent for GPT-5.6 Terra.1
On a COBOL migration benchmark, GPT-6.1 Sol reached 86.6 percent accuracy at low reasoning effort, compared with 5.4 percent for GPT-5.6 Sol, and up to 97.9 percent with increased reasoning effort.1
OpenAI says these improvements target languages that have much less training code but support critical infrastructure worldwide.1
The article cites an IBM estimate that COBOL powers more than 40 percent of online banking systems and 95 percent of ATM transactions.1

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