ChatGPT’s impressive Deep Research has been simplified and is now available for free to everyone.

      Nadeem Sarwar / Digital Trends

      There is considerable excitement surrounding AI, with many brands eager to incorporate it into their products. However, a few genuinely useful tools do exist, although they tend to be quite pricey. One such tool is ChatGPT’s Deep Research feature, and it appears that OpenAI is finally becoming a bit more generous with it.

      The company has developed a lighter version of Deep Research, utilizing its new o4-mini language model. OpenAI claims this variant is "more cost-efficient while maintaining high quality." More significantly, it can be used for free, without any subscription requirements.

      Why is this important?

      Deep Research, as the name indicates, is an active feature that conducts extensive web research on any subject and presents responses as a well-structured paper. In contrast to a standard chatbot response, it resembles a research assignment more closely.

      The lightweight version of Deep Research is driven by OpenAI’s o4-mini model and is nearly as capable as the existing Deep Research feature people are familiar with, while also being significantly more economical to operate. Responses will generally be shorter while still retaining depth.

      Users can specify the types of sources they want, such as academic papers or corporate press releases, and receive a carefully curated multi-page response complete with citations, headings, tables, and bullet points. Simply put, Deep Research achieves in minutes what would usually take someone hours of internet research and writing.

      Currently, this process is highly resource-intensive, which is why it has previously been limited to paid ChatGPT users. However, thanks to the new lightweight version, it is now accessible to free-tier users as well as expanding the search limit for subscribers.

      What’s the new feature?

      OpenAI states that ChatGPT users can make up to five Deep Research queries per month. Previously, free users were allowed only one attempt per month. Competitors like Google’s Gemini, Microsoft’s Copilot, and Perplexity also provide similar functionalities.

      For users with a $20 monthly ChatGPT Plus subscription, they will receive 25 Deep Research queries each month. This same limit applies to ChatGPT’s Education, Team, and Enterprise tiers. Users subscribed to the $200/month Pro package will have 250 queries available each month.

      Upon reaching that limit, users will automatically transition to the lightweight version of Deep Research. OpenAI asserts that this version is "nearly as intelligent as Deep Research people are already familiar with."

      The primary difference is that the responses will be shorter, but they will not compromise on the research depth. This is excellent news for users who could not afford a subscription but still wish to utilize a powerful AI tool for serious tasks rather than just for creating whimsical images.

      Nadeem is a tech and science journalist who developed an interest in innovative smartphone technology out of curiosity and soon began writing about it.

      OpenAI might introduce watermarks for ChatGPT images—only for free users

      There has been much discussion about ChatGPT's new image generation feature recently, and the excitement continues. Users have been exploring the company's apps, uncovering references to a watermark feature for generated images. Notably pointed out by X user Tibor Blaho, the line of code image_gen_watermark_for_free indicates that watermarks would solely be applied to images created by free users—providing an additional motivation to switch to a paid subscription.

      OpenAI revises its AI rollout strategy for improved GPT-5

      OpenAI is revising its release strategy for forthcoming AI models. The CEO, Sam Altman, shared on social media that the launch of GPT-5, its large language model (LLM), will be postponed to prioritize the release of some lighter reasoning models. The new o3 and o4-mini reasoning models will be launched in the coming weeks as alternatives to the anticipated GPT-5. During this period, OpenAI plans to address some developmental challenges encountered with the LLM before its eventual deployment. While no specific timeline has been provided, it has been indicated that GPT-5 should be available in the coming months.

      ChatGPT Plus is available for free for a limited time: Here’s how to determine if you qualify

      ChatGPT not only emerged on the AI scene but also ignited a whole revolution in AI assistants and made them accessible to those less familiar with technology. Despite the current market being crowded with various intelligent chatbots and apps, ChatGPT remains the most popular. While many features are available for free, ChatGPT Plus, the paid tier, offers enhanced capabilities, priority access during traffic spikes, and quicker availability of new models. The downside, however, is the $20 monthly subscription fee. Fortunately, a select number of users can currently access it for free.

      OpenAI’s CEO, Sam Altman, recently announced on X that ChatGPT Plus will be free until the end of May, but this offer only extends to college students enrolled in "degree-granting institutions in the United States and Canada." The aim is to attract college students by