Following the release of GPT-5.5 last week , people noticed something funny about OpenAI's latest model. In its Codex coding app , the company left a system prompt instructing GPT 5.5 to avoid mention of goblins, gremlins and other creatures. Yes, you read that right. "Never talk about goblins, gremlins, racoons, trolls, ogres, pigeons, or other animals or creatures unless it is absolutely and unambiguously relevant to the user's query," the prompt reads. Apparently, enough people started talking about ChatGPT's creature obsession that OpenAI felt the need to provide an accounting of where the goblins came from . In a blog post published Wednesday, the company explains it began to notice a change in ChatGPT following the release of GPT-5.1 last November. After one safety researcher asked OpenAI to include the words "goblin" and "gremlin" in an investigation into the chatbot's verbal ticks, the company found ChatGPT's usage of "goblin" increased by 175 percent after the release of GPT-5.1.…