OpenAI GPT-5.6 model rollout and free tier expansion
The developments in this story so far, most recent first.
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· date approximate Milestone
OpenAI is giving ChatGPT free users unlimited text chats
No separate article for this desk or language yet.
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· date approximate Background
OpenAI reached 1 billion weekly active users for ChatGPT.
ChatGPT recently crossed the 1 billion weekly user mark.
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· date approximate Background
OpenAI released GPT-5.5 Instant as the default model for free and Go tier users.
In early 2026, OpenAI announced that free and Go tier users would be able to have unlimited text chats starting the following week. As part of this update, a 'Think' button was added to allow these users to access higher reasoning for more difficult questions.
While text chats became unlimited, OpenAI continued to enforce limits on messages involving image generation, voice mode, file uploads, and images. This transition was described by the company as a step toward making intelligence more abundant by increasing model availability and improving the reliability of user answers.