Over the last few weeks, OpenAI has been vocal about promoting their latest reasoning model, o3, which is confirmed to be ready for the general public.
The new model is equipped with 'simulated reasoning' capabilities, which essentially allows it to reflect on its own thoughts before formulating a response. Along with a range of other improvements, such as improved visual reasoning, coding, and performance in mathematics.
However, free users of the tool will also benefit from the latest improvements in the form of OpenAI's condensed model - o3-mini. Succeeding the previous GPT-3.5 Turbo, o3-mini comes equipped with enhanced reasoning capabilities, faster response times, and reduced computational requirements. You'll also find improved performance on complex tasks, such as those involving mathematics, science, and programming.

OpenAI's CEO, Sam Altman, announced on January 17 that a version of o3-mini had been finalized, and that the API, and an update to ChatGPT, will be released within 'a couple of weeks'. This update comes as a pleasant departure from OpenAI's usual strategy, which generally reserves the latest models for paid users on a ChatGPT Plus plan. With the emergence of rapidly developing models from Google, Meta, and Anthropic, the move also serves the likely function of preserving market leadership
There are currently no official details available regarding the release date of the main o3 model. However, we can expect it to arrive shortly after the o3-mini.