OpenAI officially launched the new ChatGPT Pro subscription plan on December 5th, with a monthly price of $200, approximately NT$6,500.
OpenAI stated that the new ChatGPT Pro plan is designed specifically for professional users who require efficient reasoning and advanced features.
This plan will provide unlimited access to all of OpenAI’s models, including the latest “o1 inference model,” which has more powerful reasoning capabilities compared to the regular version.
OpenAI mentioned that ChatGPT Pro is particularly suitable for heavy users in fields such as mathematics, programming, and writing, meeting their demanding requirements for model computation and accuracy.
The latest ChatGPT Pro plan, with a monthly fee of up to $200, approximately NT$6,500, is currently the most expensive tariff plan on the market.
Image / ChatGPT
It is worth noting that OpenAI also announced a 12-day live event starting on December 5th: “12 days, 12 live sessions, a bunch of big and small new things…”. The ChatGPT Pro plan will be the first to be showcased in this event.
Evolution of the o1 model: 34% reduction in major errors compared to the preview version
The new o1 inference model has significantly improved performance compared to the previous o1 preview. OpenAI stated that o1 now demonstrates more powerful and accurate performance in fields such as mathematics, programming, and data science. Additionally, o1 now supports image uploading and has improved inference speed, making it more efficient in response time.
According to internal tests conducted by OpenAI, o1 reduced “major errors” by 34% compared to the preview version, particularly demonstrating higher reliability when handling real-world problems.
Image / OpenAI
However, according to Tech Church, despite the enhanced reasoning capabilities of o1, it performs slightly worse in some common benchmark tests compared to the regular version, especially in benchmark tests like MLE-Bench that measure the engineering capabilities of AI models. o1 did not meet the expected performance in these tests.
Nevertheless, ChatGPT Pro users will be able to use the exclusive “o1 Pro mode,” which provides more powerful computational capabilities to tackle the most challenging problems.
The o1 model is also available for limited use by regular paying users and does not necessarily require a subscription to the expensive ChatGPT Pro plan. As of the afternoon of December 6th, all ChatGPT paying users can freely switch to the o1 model for access.
Kill the chicken to scare the monkey? OpenAI rumored to gradually shift to a high-price strategy
Although the high subscription cost of ChatGPT Pro may discourage some users, OpenAI evidently has its considerations. According to The New York Times, OpenAI plans to increase the price of ChatGPT Plus to $44 per month (approximately NT$1,425) by 2029 and may introduce higher-priced enterprise subscription plans that provide access to more developing models and advanced features.
The report indicates that this high-price strategy reflects the pressure OpenAI faces from investors, forcing them to reduce losses and increase investment in AI computing infrastructure.
Currently, ChatGPT has over 300 million weekly active users, with approximately 10 million being paying subscribers, becoming OpenAI’s largest source of revenue. However, according to the report, OpenAI is expected to face a loss of about $5 billion this year, which is the reason behind their push for high-priced subscription plans.
In addition to providing advanced features, OpenAI also announced that they will offer 10 free ChatGPT Pro subscriptions to researchers in the medical field and plan to expand this program to cover researchers in more disciplines in the coming months.
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Sources: OpenAI, Tech Church, The New York Times
This article was initially written by an AI, and edited by Li Xiantai.