OpenAI puts Pro subscriptions on hold due to Astra demand
techcrunch ·
OpenAI has temporarily stopped accepting new subscriptions to its $200-per-month Pro plan because demand for its newest and most powerful model, Astra, is straining its infrastructure. The company announced the move on X through product leader Thibault Sottiaux, who oversees core products such as Codex and ChatGPT. Sottiaux said the Pro tier places the greatest load on OpenAI's systems, so new sign-ups for it are being disabled as the smallest step to preserve the broadest possible access. OpenAI's API and its lower-cost Go and Plus plans remain available. The company had warned earlier in the week that a pause might be necessary, with Sottiaux describing Astra demand as unprecedented and saying OpenAI was pulling all levers to sustain it while prioritizing service for existing users. OpenAI has not said how long the Pro sign-up pause will last or how many daily sign-ups it is receiving. Astra launched on September 3 and is being rolled out across Pro, Plus, Enterprise, and Business accounts, promising advances in reasoning, coding, and computer use, and OpenAI has promoted it as the start of the "AGI era" and a generational leap. The strain appears recent, as OpenAI raised Codex usage limits as recently as last month.
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