Smarter Free ChatGPT to Take on DeepSeek

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman announced two weeks ago that the o3-mini reasoning model would be released in 'a few weeks'.

Now, that's happening as OpenAI has officially introduced o3-mini, a new model integrated into ChatGPT and their API services, and is offering a rate-limited version to free users for the first time.

o3-mini brings faster response to ChatGPT.

The o3-mini model is designed to perform on par with the o1 in math, programming, and science, while also being faster than existing models. According to OpenAI, the o3-mini will provide 24% faster responses than the o1-mini and provide more accurate answers.

Like the o1-mini, the o3-mini will demonstrate how to generate answers rather than simply provide responses. OpenAI has published a number of benchmarks showing that the o3 model outperforms the o1 on a variety of programming and inference tasks, with lower costs and latency. Developers can use the o3-mini through OpenAI's API services, including the Chat Completions API, Assistants API, and Batch API.

Paid users also have the o3-mini-high option, which is said to be the 'best coding option in ChatGPT', with smarter responses but takes longer to generate. The o3-mini model will also support a search function to provide answers that link to web sources.

o3-mini helps free ChatGPT compete well with DeepSeek.

This is the first time that free ChatGPT users have had the chance to try OpenAI's reasoning models, just days after Microsoft made the o1 free for all Copilot users. Users can try the o3-mini for free in ChatGPT by selecting the Reason feature in the chat bar, with the same speed limits as the current GPT-4o.

o3-mini will also be available to ChatGPT Plus, Teams, and Pro users globally starting today. OpenAI has tripled the message limit for Plus and Teams users to 150 messages per day. Only Pro users, who pay $200 per month, get unlimited access to o3-mini. Microsoft also announced that o3-mini will be available on the Microsoft Azure OpenAI Service, GitHub Copilot, and GitHub Models.