OpenAI unveils a $200 ChatGPT Pro plan
ChatGPT Pro is expected to offer all the features included in the ChatGPT Plus package, along with exclusive access to o1 Pro Mode.
When OpenAI’s CEO Sam Altman teased the “12 Days of Shipmas” on X (formerly Twitter) a few days ago, it was clear the company had big plans. Known for pushing the boundaries of AI with tools like ChatGPT and its SearchGPT engine, OpenAI has consistently kept the tech world buzzing.
True to form, the company's first day of Shipmas announcements combine ambition with steep price tags, unveiling the new o1 reasoning model and a $200/month ChatGPT Pro subscription tier.
The new o1 model, nicknamed "Strawberry" during its preview in September, is OpenAI’s upgraded reasoning engine. It promises faster, more accurate answers, excelling in math, coding, and even reasoning about images.
While OpenAI says the o1 model reduces major errors on tricky real-world problems by 34% compared to its preview version, benchmark tests suggest it doesn’t always outperform its predecessor in machine learning engineering. For those seeking even more precision, OpenAI also unveiled an exclusive o1 Pro Mode which uses extra compute power to tackle complex queries, but it takes longer to generate answers.
Emmanuel Oyedeji
ChatGPT Pro subscribers will gain access to o1 Pro Mode alongside GPT-4o and Advanced Voice features. At $200/month, this plan is 10 times the cost of ChatGPT Plus, which remains at $20/month and includes the new o1 mode but not the o1 Pro Mode version.
OpenAI pitches the 01 Pro Mode as ideal for power users in programming, data science, and legal analysis, but with 10 million paying subscribers out of 300 million weekly active users, this higher-tier subscription is clearly targeting a niche audience.
Meanwhile, this premium pricing could be OpenAI's strategy of navigating substantial financial pressures. Reports from TechCrunch suggest the company incurs $700,000 daily to run ChatGPT and expects to lose $5 billion this year–even though its revenue reached $300 million in August 2024.
Kelechi Edeh
However, the competition isn’t just standing still. Google’s rival offering, Gemini offers similar multimodal capabilities, including image and video generation, while Amazon’s Nova AI recently debuted with powerful text, image, and video creation tools even promising a price that's 75% lower than the competitors.
Ultimately, OpenAI’s latest moves highlight its drive to stay ahead of the AI curve, even if it means appealing to a smaller, elite user base. But the ChatGPT Pro's $200/month pricing could leave room for rivals to appeal to cost-sensitive users, particularly as Gemini and Nova continue to scale.
One thing’s certain, though—competition in the AI space just got even fiercer.
