OpenAI Unleashes GPT-5: Smarter, Faster & Free for Everyone
OpenAI has officially unveiled GPT-5, its most powerful and refined artificial intelligence model to date, now available to all users — including those on the free tier of ChatGPT.
This new version brings significant improvements in speed, reasoning, accuracy, and versatility, excelling in key areas such as creative writing, coding assistance, and healthcare solutions. According to OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, reverting to GPT-4 after experiencing GPT-5 feels like stepping backward in capability.
Since launching ChatGPT in 2022, OpenAI has rapidly grown in popularity, now approaching 700 million weekly active users. The updated GPT-5 model has been designed with stronger safeguards, undergoing over 5,000 hours of testing to reduce hallucinations and ensure safer, more reliable outputs. Rather than refusing to answer potentially sensitive questions, GPT-5 now delivers informative yet constrained responses to reduce risk while maintaining value.
Michelle Pokrass, who leads post-training efforts, noted that GPT-5 is capable of recognizing task limitations, avoiding guesswork, and providing clearer justifications—making it far more trustworthy than prior versions.
In a demonstration, GPT-5 was tasked with building two versions of a French learning web app based solely on a simple prompt. Within seconds, the model delivered interactive solutions featuring flashcards, quizzes, and progress tracking. Though rough around the edges, the outputs can be further refined by users—showcasing the growing power of “vibe coding,” where ideas are transformed into usable code instantly.
The model is rolling out across Free, Plus, Pro, and Team plans today. Notably, free users are now granted access to a reasoning-capable model for the first time. If they hit usage limits, GPT-5 Mini will be used as a fallback. Pro users gain unlimited access, and business and education plans will receive the update within a week.
Microsoft, a major partner of OpenAI, has begun integrating GPT-5 into its ecosystem, including Microsoft 365 Copilot, Azure AI tools, and Copilot for personal use.
Meanwhile, enterprise platforms like Box have been testing GPT-5 against complex real-world challenges. CEO Aaron Levie shared that where previous models failed to grasp logic or interpret dense documents, GPT-5 has delivered a major leap in contextual understanding and decision-making.
Developers will now have access to three GPT-5 versions through the API—standard, mini, and nano—tailored for varying cost and performance needs.
Additionally, OpenAI recently introduced two smaller, open-source models to support affordable and customizable deployments. Yet, GPT-5 remains the flagship experience, aiming to offer users an interaction that feels more natural, more intelligent, and more human than ever before.
Summing up the milestone, Altman described GPT-5 as akin to having a team of PhD-level experts on demand—empowering users not just to imagine, but to build their ideas into reality.
