Guess what? OpenAI just threw free-tier ChatGPT users a bone with its Deep Research feature. But, and there’s always a but, it’s a bit of a tease. You get the ‘lightweight’ version, running on ChatGPT o4-mini, and only five goes at it each month. 😊
If you’re scratching your head wondering what Deep Research is, imagine a tiny, overeager librarian who’s a bit too good at their job. Hand them a topic, and boom—they’re off, digging through the web, pulling together a neat little report complete with citations, all in the time it takes to brew a cup of coffee. Ideal for when you’re knee-deep in literature reviews or trying to make sense of market trends.
Now, if you’re shelling out for Pro, you’re sitting pretty with 125 Deep Research sessions plus another 125 lightweight ones every month. Enterprise folks? They get 10 original Deep Research uses. Plus and Teams users aren’t left in the cold either, with expanded limits, though after 10 original uses, it’s lightweight for an extra 15 spins.
Over on X, some folks are grumbling about the limits, especially when Google’s Gemini is out there being more generous. But hey, for free-tier users, five uses beats a sharp stick in the eye. Just make ’em count!
This move comes hot on the heels of OpenAI bumping up usage limits for ChatGPT Plus, Teams, and Enterprise users, giving them more time with different ChatGPT flavors. It’s a wild world out there in tech land, and OpenAI’s juggling act between keeping things accessible and not burning the house down is something to watch.
