Today OpenAI rolled out what Sam Altman says is the world’s smartest language model in the world plus a brand new Pro tier that comes with unlimited usage limits and with a higher level of computing resources. The OpenAI o1 and o1-mini models are referred to as reasoning models, indicating their underlying purpose for advanced analysis and problem solving.
OpenAI o1 Model
Sam Altman announced on X (formerly Twitter) that their new AI model is now live and available in ChatGPT right now and will be arriving to the API soon.
He tweeted:
“o1, the smartest model in the world. smarter, faster, and more features (eg multimodality) than o1-preview. live in chatgpt now, coming to api soon.
chatgpt pro. $200/month. unlimited usage and even-smarter mode for using o1. more benefits to come!”
Screenshot Of ChatGPT 01 Model Availability
OpenAI o1 Restriction On Uploads Feels Like A Bug But It’s A Feature
There is a restriction on the filetypes that can be uploaded. OpenAI’s documentation doesn’t mention restrictions on filetypes that can be analyzed, so it’s unclear whether this is a feature or a bug. Because of the filetype limitations, a user will have to downgrade to the 4o model if they want ChatGPT to analyze anything other than an image file. This new model, unlike the previous models, doesn’t allow uploads of text, PDF files, or CSV files. Only image filetypes are supported, which severely restricts the range of tasks.
A tweet by OpenAI explains it supports image uploads but doesn’t firmly state it only supports image uploads. Arguably that could have been stated a little more clearly.
“OpenAI o1 is now out of preview in ChatGPT.
What’s changed since the preview? A faster, more powerful reasoning model that’s better at coding, math & writing.
o1 now also supports image uploads, allowing it to apply reasoning to visuals for more detailed & useful responses.”
Restrictions And Limitations On 01 Usage
The ChatGPT Pro plan offers near-unlimited access to o1, o1-mini, and ChatGPT-4o models, with terms of use restrictions on automated data scraping, credential sharing, and commercial use for external services. The $20/month Plus tier and Team users start with 50 weekly messages on o1 and 50 daily messages on o1-mini.
According to ChatGPT’s help page on usage limits:
“When you hit that limit, you’ll see a pop-up and no longer be able to select the model from the drop-down menu.
You can check the date that your usage limits restarts at any time by highlighting the model name in the model picker drop-down. Your weekly usage limit resets every seven days after you send your first message. For example, if you start sending messages on September 12, your limit will reset on September 19 (00:00 UTC), regardless of when you reach the limit.
You can verify that your response used o1 or o1-mini by checking at the top of the ChatGPT response.”
Limitations Specific To OpenAI 01 And 01-Mini
OpenAI’s help page about using o1, o1-mini, and 4o lists the following limitations on the o1 and o1-mini models:
“Our OpenAI o1 and o1-mini models do not have access to the following advanced tools and features:
Memory
Custom instructions
File Uploads unrelated to Vision capabilities
Web browsing
Discovering and using GPTs
Voice
You will need to switch over to GPT-4o to access these tools.”
Initial Confusion About $200 Pricing
Altman’s tweet was interpreted as announcing a price increase of the $20 ChatGPT tier to $200. One of the first responses praised the high benchmark performance of the new o1 model but lamented that ChatGPT was now out of reach for many users.
They tweeted:
“Incredible numbers on the benchmarks but that $200 hurts – the most powerful model will now become out of reach for many”
That person wasn’t alone. The impression that the $20 tier had increased to $200 was echoed elsewhere across social media.
Sam Altman immediately responded:
everything you share here is available in the $20 tier!
The confusion is understandable because the name of the new plan is similar to the name of the $20 tier. The new $200 plan is called Pro and the ChatGPT that costs $20 is called Plus.
ChatGPT Pro Mode $200/Month
ChatGPT Pro Mode is a new tier that has more “thinking power” than the standard version of o1, which increases it’s reliability. Answers in Pro mode take longer to generate, displaying a progress bar and triggering an in-app notification if the user navigates to a different conversation.
OpenAI describes the new ChatGPT Pro Mode:
“ChatGPT Pro provides access to a version of our most intelligent model that thinks longer for the most reliable responses. In evaluations from external expert testers, o1 pro mode produces more reliably accurate and comprehensive responses, especially in areas like data science, programming, and case law analysis.
Compared to both o1 and o1-preview, o1 pro mode performs better on challenging ML benchmarks across math, science, and coding.”
The new tier is not a price increase from the regular plan, which is called Plus. It’s an entirely new plan called Pro.
OpenAI’s new o1 Pro plan provides unlimited access to its new o1 model, along with o1-mini, GPT-4o, and Advanced Voice. It also includes o1 Pro Mode, which has access to increased computational power to generate more refined and insightful responses to complex queries.
Read more about OpenAI’s new pro plan and O1 model:
Featured Image by Shutterstock/One Artist
