
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman announced today (January 23) that the free tier of ChatGPT will now use the o3-mini model, marking a significant shift in how the popular AI chatbot serves its user base. In the same tweet announcing the change, Altman revealed that paid subscribers to ChatGPT Plus and Pro plans will enjoy “tons of o3-mini usage,” giving people an incentive to move to a paid account with the company.
The o3-mini model is part of OpenAI’s latest advancements in its generative AI technology. Although smaller in scale compared to the flagship GPT-4-turbo model, o3-mini promises faster response times, reduced computational requirements, and the ability to handle simpler queries with ease.