OpenAI unveils a new streamlined version of the research function in ChatGPT. It is available to all users for free, but comes with usage limits.

For paid subscribers, the lightweight version will automatically activate once the usage limit of the full research feature is reached. "Responses will be shorter, but will maintain the same depth and quality you are accustomed to," — states OpenAI.

This tool is based on the o4-mini model — a streamlined version of the larger o4 model that incurs lower processing costs. This consequently allows OpenAI to increase usage limits.