Today, OpenAI has launched ChatGPT Pro, a $200 monthly subscription to its flagship chatbots. This release is the first of many expected over the next 12 days, as the San Francisco startup has scheduled a series of announcements to launch starting today.
Everything from OpenAI’s $20 monthly subscription is included at this price level, plus significantly more access to GPT-4o and o1 artificial intelligence models. With a ChatGPT Pro Subscription— which will cost $2,400 for a full year — users can also use an OpenAI-exclusive model called o1 pro mode that has more computing power to process responses.
“ChatGPT power users, at this point, really use it a lot and want more compute resources than $20 can buy,” CEO Sam Altman said at the event. video transmission announcing the new premium level. While the high price may come as a shock to many consumers, this subscription is aimed at hyper-engaged users who want near-unlimited access and researchers who potentially want to experiment with usage ChatGPT for more complex and intensive tasks.
No changes to the pricing of OpenAI’s other subscription plans have been announced, and the free option remains available. The startup’s first subscription option for its consumer chatbot, called ChatGPT Plus, originally launched in February last year for $20 a month, and remains at that price for now. At the Plus level, users unlock most of ChatGPT’s new features and generative AI models. Furthermore, these subscribers are not limited by speed OpenAI as free users. The number of ChatGPT requests users can make per day or the amount of time they can spend chatting with ChatGPT’s best voice interface is determined by the subscription level.
The company is targeting its new $200 monthly subscription at those using OpenAI’s generative AI model for more technical work. “People will find the o1 pro mode the most useful for math, science or programming problems,” said Jason Wei, an OpenAI researcher, during the video stream. WIRED hasn’t yet tried a ChatGPT Pro subscription firsthand to see how it handles these types of requests, though I’m looking forward to testing the tool to help readers better understand its strengths and limitations, similar to the our Past work on ChatGPT Plusas well as its specific characteristics, such as Advanced voice mode AND Web browsing via artificial intelligence.
Although ChatGPT Pro subscribers receive what OpenAI calls “unlimited access” to the o1 model, GPT-4o model, and Advanced Voice Mode functionality, the start is clear terms of use they still apply. Therefore, actions such as sharing an account between multiple people or using the Pro plan to power your own service are not allowed and may get your account banned. Users can request a refund for the $200 subscription within the first two weeks of purchase if they are not satisfied by going to the OpenAI site online help center.
In addition to ChatGPT Pro, OpenAI announced that model o1which focuses on “reasoning” skills and multi-step processing of user input, is no longer available in limited preview. According to the startup, this fully released o1 template answers questions faster, can now accept images as input, and makes fewer errors. The startup plans to add web browsing and file upload functionality to ChatGPT’s o1 setup in the future.
As we approach the end of the year, OpenAI is expected to continue rolling out new AI capabilities. Reporting from The Verge suggests that these year-end releases could include Sora, OpenAI’s long-awaited generative AI video model. It’s possible that some of these upcoming announcements could also provide more insight into how Altman is thinking about AI agents, tools that can potentially perform online tasks on your behalf, and the company’s 2025 focus.