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ChatGPT Hits 1.2B Weekly Users, OpenAI Launches $500 Pro
Sam Altman took the stage in San Francisco on September 29th for OpenAI's annual DevDay, and the numbers alone made the case for why the company still dominates the conversation around AI. ChatGPT now sees 1.2 billion weekly users, Altman said, a figure that dwarfs most consumer tech products on the planet. But the bigger story was pricing and competition.
OpenAI unveiled a $500-per-month ChatGPT Pro tier, aimed squarely at power users who need the highest usage limits and access to Ultrafast mode, a speed boost for GPT-6 Astra across ChatGPT Work and Codex. The company also reopened its older $200 tier with fresh limits, giving subscribers more options at different price points.
The timing is not exactly calm. OpenAI's models were reportedly behind a breach at Hugging Face earlier this year, part of a wave of incidents involving AI agents hacking outside systems. That's fed a growing debate about whether the industry needs to slow down. Against that backdrop, OpenAI also introduced Dots, its answer to Meta's Muse, though with one key difference in how it's being rolled out.
Why this matters
A $500-a-month tier tells us where OpenAI thinks the real money sits: not with casual users, but with businesses willing to pay for Ultrafast responses and priority access to Dots. Gating Dots behind Pro, Business Premium, and Enterprise, while Meta hands Muse out for free, is a bet that agent tools are worth paying for before they're worth giving away. That's a different playbook than the one that got ChatGPT to 1.2 billion weekly users in the first place, and it's worth watching whether enterprise customers actually bite or whether this becomes a niche SKU that mostly signals "we have the fastest model" to competitors.
For developers and founders building on top of GPT-6.1 Sol, the practical question is access tiers and rate limits, not the keynote theater. If Ultrafast mode becomes the baseline expectation for production apps, pricing pressure moves downstream fast. Researchers should note that OpenAI is explicitly pricing speed as a premium feature now, which says something about where the compute bottlenecks actually are.
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Common Questions Answered
How many weekly users does ChatGPT have as of OpenAI's DevDay announcement?
ChatGPT now has 1.2 billion weekly users, according to Sam Altman's announcement at OpenAI's annual DevDay on September 29th. This figure represents a significant user base that dwarfs most consumer tech products on the planet, demonstrating ChatGPT's dominance in the AI conversation.
What is the new ChatGPT Pro tier and who is it designed for?
OpenAI unveiled a $500-per-month ChatGPT Pro tier aimed squarely at power users who need the highest usage limits and access to Ultrafast responses. This premium tier represents OpenAI's strategy to monetize advanced features for businesses and heavy users willing to pay for priority access and enhanced capabilities.
What are Dots and how do they compare to Meta's Muse AI?
Dots are always-on AI assistants announced by OpenAI at DevDay that can perform nearly anything across connected apps in the background while learning user preferences over time. OpenAI is positioning Dots as its competitive response to Meta's buzzy Muse AI, though Dots will be gated behind paid tiers (Pro, Business Premium, and Enterprise) while Meta offers Muse for free.
Why is OpenAI's $500 Pro tier significant in terms of the company's business strategy?
The $500-per-month tier indicates that OpenAI believes the real revenue opportunity lies with businesses and power users rather than casual users, representing a shift from the free-access model that helped ChatGPT reach 1.2 billion weekly users. By gating advanced features like Dots behind premium paid tiers while competitors offer similar tools for free, OpenAI is betting that agent tools are worth paying for before they're worth giving away.
Further Reading
- ChatGPT now has 1.2 billion weekly users, OpenAI says - The Verge
- DevDay 2026 Recap - OpenAI
- OpenAI halves Pro 200 usage and launches a $500 ChatGPT plan at DevDay - The Next Web
- OpenAI DevDay 2026: ChatGPT Space, Teams Integration and MCP Plugins Challenge Microsoft 365 Copilot - Windows Forum
- Vibe Check: OpenAI DevDay 2026 - every.to
