OpenAI Pauses Pro Subscriptions as Astra Demand Strains Infrastructure
Demand for OpenAI's newest and most powerful model, Astra, has led the company to temporarily pause subscriptions for its $200-per-month Pro plan, citing strain on its infrastructure.
The move was announced on X by OpenAI's product leader, Thibault (Tibo) Sottiaux, who oversees core products including Codex and ChatGPT. He said the Pro plan puts the most strain on OpenAI's systems, which is why sign-ups for this service tier are now being disabled.
'Smallest Step' to Preserve Access
"We wanted to take the smallest step that allows us to continue giving the broadest access possible," Sottiaux wrote. He added that the company's other plans β including the API and the lower-cost Go and Plus tiers β remain available.
An Unprecedented Surge in Demand
The company had warned earlier in the week that such a change might be coming. Sottiaux wrote at the time: "Demand for Astra is really unprecedented. We're pulling all the levers possible to sustain the demand, but I've not seen anything like it until now β and we went through very steep growth before. Priority will always be to keep excellent service for existing users, but we might have to pause new Pro subscriptions for a bit if this continues."
OpenAI has not said how long sign-ups to the Pro tier may be disabled, nor how many people are signing up daily, leaving the full scale of the demand unclear.
The company raised usage limits for Codex users as recently as last month, suggesting the strain is a relatively recent phenomenon.
Astra's Ambitious Rollout
Launched on September 3, Astra has been rolling out across OpenAI's plans β including Pro, Plus, Enterprise, and Business accounts β in addition to its API. The model promises a major leap forward in AI reasoning, coding, and computer use, all areas of steep competition.
OpenAI has even heralded Astra as the beginning of the "AGI era" and a generational leap, stoking demand even further.
via TechCrunch AI