GPT-2 was called too risky to release, then fully released in nine months

OpenAI announced GPT-2 in February 2019 and declined to release the full 1.5-billion-parameter model, citing concerns about malicious use. After a staged release and analysis of partner research, it published the complete model on November 5, 2019 - roughly nine months later - stating it had seen no strong evidence of misuse of the earlier released versions.

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Last verified June 6, 2026