OpenAI has temporarily paused new sign-ups and upgrades for its $200-per-month ChatGPT Pro plan, just days after launching its latest AI model, GPT-6 Astra.
The company says the decision is linked to unprecedented demand for Astra, which is putting significant pressure on its computing infrastructure.
OpenAI confirmed that the pause affects the Pro 20X plan, its highest individual subscription tier. Existing $200 Pro subscribers are not affected and can continue using their accounts normally.
Why did OpenAI pause the plan?
According to OpenAI product leader Thibault Sottiaux, the $200 Pro subscriptions place the greatest strain on the company's systems. The company decided to temporarily stop new sign-ups while it works to increase computing capacity.
The move is unusual because OpenAI is effectively turning away customers willing to pay $200 every month.
Sottiaux had warned earlier that demand for Astra was “unprecedented” and that OpenAI might need to pause new Pro subscriptions if the surge continued.
Astra's advanced capabilities appear to be a major factor behind the increased demand. The model can perform complex reasoning and use computers to interact with applications and websites, making it particularly attractive to developers and professionals handling demanding tasks.
What happens to other ChatGPT users?
The pause does not affect everyone.
OpenAI's lower-cost plans remain available, including ChatGPT Plus and Go, while the $100 Pro tier is also unaffected. API access and existing $200 Pro subscriptions continue as well.
OpenAI has not announced when new $200 Pro subscriptions will reopen. The company says it is working to add more capacity.
A sign of how expensive the AI race is becoming
This isn't the first time OpenAI has temporarily stopped new subscriptions because of infrastructure pressure. The company made a similar move in 2023 when demand surged following its developer conference.
But this time, the situation highlights a much bigger challenge facing the AI industry: building powerful AI models is only part of the problem. Companies also need enormous amounts of computing power to serve millions of users.
OpenAI has dramatically expanded its computing capacity in recent years, but the launch of increasingly powerful models such as Astra is pushing demand even higher.
For users, the message is simple: GPT-6 Astra may be powerful, but running it at massive scale comes with a serious infrastructure cost.
Source: OpenAI Help Center
