OpenAI launched a new subscription for ChatGPT. The ChatGPT Pro subscription is priced at $200 per month, providing users with comprehensive access to OpenAI’s complete model suite, including the advanced o1 “reasoning model.”
“We think ChatGPT Pro is primarily intended for ChatGPT’s intensive users. Those are people who are already pushing the limits of the models’ capabilities with tasks such as math, programming and writing.” So quotes TechCrunch’s Jason Wei, a member of OpenAI’s technical team.
o1 can control its own output
The o1 model demonstrates a unique approach to AI reasoning. Unlike traditional AI models, o1 attempts to independently verify its own output during the generation process, which helps mitigate common computational errors. However, this self-checking mechanism comes with the trade-off of potentially longer solution-finding times. The model is fundamentally task-oriented, strategically planning and executing a series of actions to formulate more precise answers.
OpenAI released a preview of o1 in September. This new version generally performs better. Compared to the preview, users can expect a “faster, more powerful and more accurate reasoning model” that is even better at programming and math, according to an OpenAI spokesperson.
The updated o1 model introduces several notable enhancements. It can now analyze uploaded images, a feature unavailable in the preview version, and has been trained to think “more concisely and succinctly,” improving response times. According to internal testing by OpenAI, o1 reduces large errors in complex queries by 34% compared to the preview version.
o1 not an improvement in all respects
Interestingly, despite these improvements, the full version of o1 underperforms on certain standard benchmarks, including the MLE-Bench, which evaluates AI models’ performance in machine learning engineering.
While o1 is not exclusive to ChatGPT Pro subscribers, there are tiered access levels. All paying ChatGPT users can access o1 through the model selector, but Pro subscribers receive an enhanced version called “o1 pro mode.” This premium version utilizes additional computational resources to generate more sophisticated answers to challenging queries.
ChatGPT Pro users can activate this functionality by selecting “o1 pro mode” in the model selector and asking a question directly. Because generating answers can take longer, ChatGPT displays a progress bar and sends a notification in the app if the user switches to another conversation in the meantime.
Thinking for weeks
The o1 pro mode appears to allocate significantly more “thinking time” for answer formulation. This approach aligns with OpenAI’s earlier exploration of models that can potentially think for extended periods—hours, days, or even weeks—to improve reasoning capabilities.
“When evaluated by external experts, o1 pro mode produces more consistently accurate and comprehensive answers. And especially in areas such as data science, programming and legal case analysis,” an OpenAI spokesperson told TechCrunch. “Compared to both o1 and o1 preview, o1 pro mode performs better on challenging benchmarks in math, science and coding. In particular, we saw a 75% error reduction in simpler programming queries that are more representative of everyday programming tasks.”
o1 also available via API
o1 will soon also be available via OpenAI’s API. This offers new possibilities such as function calls (e.g., using external tools) and image analysis. Future developments may include web browsing and file upload capabilities.
ChatGPT Pro is by far OpenAI’s most expensive subscription to date. In fact, it is ten times more expensive than ChatGPT Plus. The pricing might challenge widespread adoption, as many people already find ChatGPT Plus too expensive.
To make the subscription more attractive, ChatGPT Pro also includes unlimited access to GPT-4o and Advanced Voice Mode, ChatGPT’s human conversation feature.
Giving away subscriptions for free
In addition, OpenAI will give away free subscriptions. The company announced a program to provide ten grants for ChatGPT Pro to medical researchers from “leading institutions,” with plans to offer more grants in different disciplines in the future.
Reducing losses
The aggressive strategies reflect investor pressure on OpenAI to cut its losses. While the company’s monthly revenue was $300 million in August, OpenAI expects to make losses of about $5 billion this year. Expenses on staff, office space and AI training infrastructure account for this. ChatGPT alone at one point reportedly cost OpenAI $700,000 a day.
ChatGPT remains a critical revenue stream for OpenAI, boasting over 300 million weekly active users, with approximately 10 million paid subscribers contributing to the platform’s ecosystem.