OpenAI is giving free ChatGPT users limited access to its Deep Research tool, letting them explore the feature without a subscription.
All users now have extended tool capabilities due to the lightweight o4-mini model-based release of the tool.
OpenAI states that o4-mini Deep Research responds with slightly less word count, yet remains equally intelligent and economical while maintaining equivalent research quality to the main version.
The tool became available through OpenAI subscription services when it was initially released to paying Pro, Plus, Team, Edu, and Enterprise subscribers. All subscribers of Deep Research capabilities receive a set number of queries each monthly period despite their account level.
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Users of the Plus plan received 10 inquiries per month yet those with the Pro plan paying $200 monthly, could use 125 inquiries. The original version of ChatGPT becomes interchangeable with its lightweight counterpart after the user reaches their stated inquiry allowance.
The expansion provides additional Deep Research inquiries to Plus and Team subscribers beyond their existing 10 functions and adds 125 more tasks to Pro subscribers, powered by a lightweight tool version.
Users of Enterprise and Edu will receive access to the lightweight tool next week, giving them an additional 15 inquiries during their monthly allowance. Free users who rely on the o4-mini powered tool have five monthly queries available to them.
Deep Research implements an automatic website and source analysis system that produces detailed reports containing proper documentation.
According to the company, the tool operates by using a refined version of the OpenAI o3 reasoning model which serves the lightweight iteration at a lower cost.
