OpenAI Reopens ChatGPT Plus Subscription, See Benefits, Price, Availability

OpenAI has reopened ChatGPT Plus subscription and a considerable number of users have already received invitations.

Last month, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman took to X (formerly Twitter) to announce that the company would suspend new user registrations for ChatGPT Plus because "the surge in usage exceeds capacity".

With ChatGPT Plus no longer available, some business-minded users began to rent out their ChatGPT Plus accounts on eBay for at least $10 (about £8) per month.

A screenshot shared by IT Home shows that some users sold their ChatGPT Plus invitation code account for £428.

Much to the delight and relief of its users who are willing to pay a monthly fee of $20 (about £15), OpenAI has now reopened the ChatGPT Plus subscription, which comes with a slew of exciting benefits.

Those who subscribe to this plan will be given general access to ChatGPT, even during peak times. Aside from this, the subscription plan assures faster response times along with priority access to new features and improvements.

Alternatively, you can access the free version of ChatGPT. However, it is worth noting that the Plus subscription offers additional features and benefits that enhance the overall user experience.

For instance, OpenAI added the ability to upload various file formats and automatically switch between tools for ChatGPT Plus members back in October.

ChatGPT Plus members can take advantage of OpenAI's most powerful AI model, GPT-4. Moreover, they can create and use GPTs. As if that weren't enough, they get support for tools like DALL-E, browsing, advanced data analysis and more.

To recap, the American AI company released a new AI product, GPTs, at its first-ever developer conference DevDay on November 7. GPTs allows developers and companies to customise ChatGPT as per their specific needs and services.

The company also showcased the GPT-4 Turbo model with 128K context at the conference. "New GPT-4 Turbo model that is more capable, cheaper and supports a 128K context window," OpenAI said in a blog post.

Furthermore, OpenAI claims GPT-4 Turbo can accept the equivalent of 300 pages of a single text prompt. It will also be faster than its predecessor, the GPT-4 chatbot, and bring the running costs down to half.

Currently, there are over 100 million weekly active ChatGPT users. According to OpenAI, more than 92 per cent of Fortune 500 companies are using its platform. This includes multiple industries such as education, legal applications and financial services.

ChatGPT Plus: Key benefits

General access to ChatGPT: You will be able to access ChatGPT even during peak times. As a result, you aren't likely to encounter wait times and have a smoother experience.

Faster response times: ChatGPT Plus subscribers will have quicker response times.

Priority access to new features and improvements: ChatGPT Plus subscription offers early access to new features and improvements, allowing Plus subscribers to make the most of the platform.

How to subscribe to ChatGPT Plus, pricing, availability

Create an OpenAI account or sign in to your existing OpenAI account at chat.openai.com

After logging in, locate the "Upgrade to Plus" button in the bottom left corner and click on it.

Complete the payment process by entering your payment information. The ChatGPT Plus subscription costs $20 (about £15) a month.

OpenAI expanded access to ChatGPT Plus for customers outside of the US on February 10, 2023. The company plans to continue to refine this offering based on user feedback and needs. OpenAI is also trying to introduce lower-cost plans, business plans, and data packs for more availability.

Does GPT-4 Turbo perform worse in December?

In the meantime, a recent statistically significant test conducted by LLM enthusiast Rob Lynch suggests OpenAI's GPT-4 Turbo is particularly lazy over the winter holidays.

Lynch recently put GPT-4 Turbo through its proverbial paces and was surprised to find the LLM produces a shorter response when it thinks it's December compared to when it is prompted to believe that the current month is May.

For comparison, GPT-4 Turbo produced an average output of 4,298 tokens over 477 test runs when it was prompted to believe the current month was May. However, the LLM offered a considerably shorter mean output of 4,086 tokens for December.

As X user Ethan Mollick pointed out, the "AI Winter Break Hypothesis", which suggests that GPT-4 performs worse in December because it "learned" to do less work over the holidays may be true.