OpenAI will start charging $200 per month for access to an especially powerful version of ChatGPT, it has said.
The “Pro” subscription tier costs $200 per month, or the same in pounds, and is aimed specifically at a small selection of users who need to ask ChatGPT numerous questions or want to give it more time to think, said its chief executive.
After the announcement, OpenAI boss Sam Altman stressed that the company expected the existing highest-tier to remain appealing to most of its users. The new one uses the same model as that Plus tier – which costs $20 per month – but comes with unlimited access and the option to allow it to “think even harder” for more complex questions.
OpenAI said the new subscription would also include access to a range of its other tools, most notably an even more powerful version of o1 called o1 pro mode, which the tech firm said “used more compute to think harder and provide even better answers to the hardest problems”.
As part of the announcement, it was confirmed that o1 had now also moved out of preview, and that the new subscription would also include access to ChatGPT’s existing models and its voice mode.
“As AI becomes more advanced, it will solve increasingly complex and critical problems. It also takes significantly more compute to power these capabilities,” the company said in a blog post.
“Today, we’re adding ChatGPT Pro, a 200 dollar monthly plan that enables scaled access to the best of OpenAI’s models and tools.
“This plan includes unlimited access to our smartest model, OpenAI o1, as well as to o1-mini, GPT-4o, and Advanced Voice.
“It also includes o1 pro mode, a version of o1 that uses more compute to think harder and provide even better answers to the hardest problems.
“In the future, we expect to add more powerful, compute-intensive productivity features to this plan.
“ChatGPT Pro provides a way for researchers, engineers, and other individuals who use research-grade intelligence daily to accelerate their productivity and be at the cutting edge of advancements in AI.”
The announcement came on the first day of what the company is calling “12 Days of OpenAI”, where, in the run-up to Christmas, the firm will be making a range of announcements around new features, apps, products and updates.
The high-priced new subscription tier comes as the AI start-up is reportedly facing pressure from investors to narrow its losses and boost its revenue, as the infrastructure around building and training AI models is notoriously expensive.
In October, it was announced that OpenAI had raised 6.6 billion dollars in a new funding round, and the company’s investors will be looking to see the AI firm continue to grow.
