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OpenAI Reverses ChatGPT Usage Limit Reduction Amid Backlash

· Confirmed

Technology Desk

In Short: This decision to reverse the usage limit reduction comes just months after Amazon announced it was investing $50 billion in OpenAI and roughly a year after Altman attended the wedding of Amazon founder Bezos and Lauren Sánchez.

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OpenAI has reversed its decision to reduce usage limits for ChatGPT Pro plans, doubling them instead following user backlash. Thibault Sottiaux, a software engineer and product executive at OpenAI, announced on X that the company will double usage limits for all ChatGPT Pro $100, $200, and $500 plans and Business Premium subscriptions, effective immediately.

The original reduction was expected to take effect on October 29, but the company is now implementing the change immediately. This primarily affects ChatGPT Work and Codex, which share usage limits under eligible subscriptions. Sottiaux stated, 'We heard your kind feedback and won’t be reducing usage limits for Pro 200, so your Work and Codex usage will stay the same.'

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According to Sottiaux, 'usage of your dot will still continue to be separate from your default usage.' This change comes in response to recent backlash against the company's plans to reduce usage limits for its premium plans.

The reversal follows a period of criticism and disputes between OpenAI and its users over usage limits. OpenAI is also facing scrutiny after dismissing three AI safety researchers who allege they were pushed out after raising concerns about the monitoring of AI systems and collaboration with external safety organizations.

The researchers wrote, 'We do not believe the path to superintelligence can be navigated safely if the people closest to the risks can no longer work in high-trust, high-bandwidth ways with each other and with third parties.' One researcher, Balesni, was told he was 'speaking too much to third party safety organizations.' Another researcher, Wang, wrote on X, 'The reasons that we were provided for our terminations are simply not adding up.'

This decision to reverse the usage limit reduction comes just months after Amazon announced it was investing $50 billion in OpenAI and roughly a year after Altman attended the wedding of Amazon founder Bezos and Lauren Sánchez. The move highlights the ongoing challenges OpenAI faces in balancing user demands with its business and safety goals.

The feature that allows users to connect their accounts with ChatGPT is currently locked behind OpenAI's priciest consumer and business tiers: the $200-a-month Pro plan and the $125-a-month Business Premium seat. OpenAI says a Dot can reach more than 4,000 connected apps, and when you're not actively chatting with it, it runs what the company calls proactive research: scanning your connected accounts with read-only access to figure out what to do next.

What this adds

OpenAI's decision to reverse course on reducing usage limits for ChatGPT Pro plans follows a period of intense user backlash and internal criticism. The company's actions reflect a broader trend of AI companies grappling with user expectations and safety concerns.

Background

OpenAI has reversed its decision to reduce usage limits for ChatGPT Pro plans, doubling them instead following user backlash.

The original reduction was expected to take effect on October 29, but the company is now implementing the change immediately.

What's confirmed

What's still developing

Sources