The AI video generator can only be accessed by users who are subscribed to ChatGPT’s Plus ($20/£20 per month) or Pro ($200/£200 per month) tiers. Sora being rolled out to the UK comes as creatives in the country are fighting against government plans to embrace generative AI by weakening copyright protections.
We knew OpenAI’s GPT-4.5 launch was imminent, and now it has cheekily revealed a live stream is due at 3PM ET today. “Livestream in 4.5 hours,” said OpenAI in a post on X, seemingly confirming references to GPT-4.5 that have been spotted on ChatGPT this week.
I reported last week that OpenAI was targeting a release of GPT-4.5 by the end of February, and it looks like it’s about to happen. Reddit posters have discovered references to GPT-4.5, codenamed Orion, in the Android version of ChatGPT. I’ve also heard from one source familiar with OpenAI’s plans that the GPT-4.5 launch should be going ahead today.
[reddit.com]
Inside this chatbot is an assistant that can remember and do stuff for you. Sometimes.
This free version will be powered by GPT-4o mini instead of GPT-4o. “The natural conversation pace and tone are similar to the GPT-4o version while being more cost effective to serve,” OpenAI says on X.
That means subscribers to OpenAI’s $20 per month tier can try it instead of having to cough up for the $200 per month Pro tier. The feature is rolling out to Team, Edu, and Enterprise users, too, OpenAI says.
OpenAI is expanding access to its new Operator AI agent to more markets today, including the UK, Canada, and India. Announced last month, Operator can perform tasks on the web for you, and requires a $200 monthly ChatGPT Pro subscription. Microsoft is also working on its own version of OpenAI’s Operator.
Though it might have seemed like OpenAI was on the ropes between its recent weirdness with Microsoft and the disruptive arrival of DeepSeek, CNBC reports that the firm behind ChatGPT now has 400 million weekly active users — up 100 million from last December. OpenAI COO Brad Lightcap attributed the 33% growth to, among other things, word of mouth:
”They see the utility of it. They see their friends using it. “There’s an overall effect of people really wanting these tools, and seeing that these tools are really valuable.”
