Sam Altman's OpenAI Introduces o3-mini Model, Free Access to ChatGPT Users

Sam Altman's OpenAI has released o3-mini, a new reasoning model, which is available to both free and paid ChatGPT users. This move follows Microsoft's decision to make its O1 model available to all Copilot users for free, as well as the emergence of DeepSeek, which has disrupted the AI world.

With o3-mini, OpenAI gives free-tier users access to its reasoning models for the first time, though with rate limits similar to GPT-4o. This marks a significant shift in OpenAI's strategy, as it makes advanced AI tools more accessible to a broader audience.

The model, which was first announced at OpenAI's "12 Days of Ship-mas" event in December, performs similarly to its predecessor, o1-mini, in areas such as mathematics, coding, and scientific reasoning.

However, it provides a 24% increase in response time and improved step-by-step reasoning capabilities, essentially improving the overall accuracy and usability of its outputs.

"This powerful and fast model advances the boundaries of what small models can achieve, delivering exceptional STEM capabilities—with particular strength in science, math, and coding—all while maintaining the low cost and reduced latency of OpenAI o1-mini," according to Sam Altman.

Paid users on the ChatGPT Plus, Team, and Pro plans will gain additional benefits, with Plus and Team users now able to send up to 150 messages per day — three times the previous limit — while Pro users, who pay $200 per month, will continue to have unlimited access.

Developers can integrate o3-mini using OpenAI's API services, such as the Chat Completions API, Assistants API, and Batch API. OpenAI has also released o3-mini-high, an advanced version optimized for coding and complex reasoning tasks that provides increased intelligence at the expense of slightly longer processing times.

One significant improvement in o3-mini is its ability to retrieve real-time data from the web, providing answers with source links for increased reliability.  o3-mini is also being integrated into Microsoft's Azure OpenAI Service, GitHub Copilot, and GitHub models, broadening its use in enterprise applications. Users can use o3-mini for free within ChatGPT by selecting the 'Reason' feature in the chat bar, but usage limits apply.