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OpenAI has finally announced a new premium subscription plan for its popular chatbot, ChatGPT. The new tier, named ChatGPT Pro, will cost users a steep $200 per month and provide them with unlimited access to all OpenAI models, including the full version of the much-anticipated o1 “reasoning” model. The model is focused on tackling complex tasks such as math, programming, and writing, designed to give users more accurate and powerful responses.
Following several leaks of the plan, which confirms some speculations made earlier, the company announced the introduction of ChatGPT Pro. As the technical staff of OpenAI reveals, the most probable users of ChatGPT Pro are “power users,” as they constantly force the limits of the platform to complete specific tasks. Users with this level of dependency mostly require the advanced abilities of the o1 model in cases such as coding and solving complex problems.
O1 is OpenAI’s advanced “reasoning” model-a type of AI that attempts to check its own work as it processes tasks, so it avoids many common errors that typically trip up AI systems. While this approach helps the model to think more logically, it also causes it to take longer to arrive at solutions. O1 executes and reasons, planning what it wants to do, so it’s leading incrementally to the correct answers.
The o1 was introduced in September as a preview, but now it is fully launching with superior performance. Compared to the previous version, the new o1 model boasts of being much faster, more powerful, and accurate in handling various tasks, including coding and mathematical problem-solving. Furthermore, one of the significant updates is the model’s ability to reason about image uploads, a feature that was absent in the preview version. It has also been optimized to be more concise in its responses, leading to faster response times.
Although the full version of o1 is now accessible to all paid users of ChatGPT, the subscribers of ChatGPT Pro will receive an upgraded version of the model known as “o1 pro mode.” This exclusive mode utilizes more computational resources to deliver the best answers to the most challenging questions. A user can actually access o1 pro mode by simply clicking on the model picker tool, though they should prepare for slightly longer wait times as the AI reasons its way through more complex queries. In this case, they would see a progress bar informing them of how much time it will take the system to generate an answer.
According to OpenAI, o1 pro mode is more accurate and detailed in response, especially in areas like data science, programming, and legal analysis. In fact, internal tests show that o1 pro mode significantly reduces errors in coding-related queries, with a 75% improvement in response accuracy for tasks that mirror everyday programming challenges. This level of performance makes it particularly useful for professionals and researchers who need reliable results for complex tasks.
Besides its reasoning abilities, o1 will be integrated into the API from OpenAI, which will open the gates to new functionalities, including function calls-the possibility to use external tools-and image analysis. OpenAI, too, plans to enhance the performance of the model further, by supporting web browsing and file uploads capabilities, though this is also expected later.
ChatGPT Pro is the priciest subscription OpenAI has ever offered, a move that is significantly steeper than the $20 per month fee for the current tier ChatGPT Plus. Sure, the higher fee will be limiting in terms of who can afford to be a subscriber, but to make up for that, OpenAI has tossed a few perks into the deal. For example, the GPT-4o and Advanced Voice Mode-a feature that allows users to have more human-like experiences in conversations-will both be available to subscribers with ChatGPT Pro.
In light of the fact that the ChatGPT Pro is pricey, OpenAI has introduced a grant program that would allow free access to ChatGPT Pro to ten medical researchers from the most influential research institutions. It also stated that, in the near future, this program would extend to other disciplines where these advanced features of ChatGPT Pro could benefit other researchers as well.
The release of ChatGPT Pro, as well as the improvement of the o1 model, are part of OpenAI’s strategic moves to monetize its AI platform while improving its performance. Facing the pressure of investors to decline losses that are expected at $5 billion this year, OpenAI is already increasing prices for premium versions, and it plans future price increases for subscriptions. For example, ChatGPT Plus is expected to cost $44 per month by 2029.
Despite its high costs, ChatGPT remains one of OpenAI’s most significant revenue sources. With over 300 million weekly active users, including 10 million paid subscribers, OpenAI aims to expand its revenue stream by catering to both casual users and professionals who require advanced AI capabilities for specialized tasks.
source: techcrunch
