OpenAI’s latest reasoning model, o3 mini, is now official, with the company’s CEO, Sam Altman having recently shared details about the technology on X. He noted the model should be ready for rollout in a couple weeks with availability for API and ChatGPT users up at the same time.
thank you to the external safety researchers who tested o3-mini.
we have now finalized a version and are beginning the release process; planning to ship in ~a couple of weeks.
also, we heard the feedback: will launch api and chatgpt at the same time!
— Sam Altman (@sama) January 17, 2025
The update comes not long after OpenAI released its o1 and o1 mini model series in December. Those models provided more detailed processing of queries, as well as improved writing, and error detection in code. The upcoming o3 mini model is intended to be an improvement still on those models, with a focus on excelling in challenging science, code, and math queries. The overall intent of the model is to perform as well as a large language model in a lightweight form.
Windows Central noted Microsoft’s Phi-3 Mini is a direct competitor to o3 mini. Microsoft announced the reasoning model last April, claiming it would perform as well as GPT 3.5 in a lighter structure. Similarly, Anthropic, Google, and Meta are developing their own lightweight AI models.
TechRadar also noted whether Open AI’s update and continued development of such models is a benefit to the AI industry is pending. A shift from a heftier large language model to a lighter reasoning model can make for faster updates, but will they actually be beneficial or just consistent and incremental.
In addition to an exact release date, what remains to be seen is if the o3 mini model will be available to free ChatGPT users or if the model users will have to subscribe to a paid tier to gain access. Notably, Sam Altman has previously stated that ChatGPT Pro subscribers have a unique advantage with the 01 model as it “can think harder for the hardest problems.” The ChatGPT Pro infamously sells for $200 per month.
Did you think hitting delete on your AI chatbot conversation actually makes it disappear? Georgia Tech researchers just proved that's not entirely true. They have built a forensic tool called ORISA that can dig deleted conversations from your phone and even rebuild them into a working chatbot session you can keep talking to.
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Touchscreen laptops have been around for years. You can get them in all sizes and shapes. Just not from Apple. For years, the Cupertino giant has treated the idea of a touchscreen MacBook the way I treat a meeting that could have been an email: with open contempt. However, Wednesday looks like the day the company could finally change its mind.
The latest Apple invite puts the “Pro and Tell” showcase in Los Angeles at 10 a.m. PT (1 p.m. ET) on October 28, 2026. Instead of a regular live-streamed keynote, it is an invitation-only, hands-on event for a handful of press and creators (similar to what the company did for the MacBook Neo earlier this year).
Two residents of Chicago have filed a lawsuit in the US over claims that robots run by Coco Robotics and Serve Robotics captured their facial and hand measurements without consent, bringing renewed attention to the food delivery robots. The cases raise a troubling question: If a robot delivers food to your door, can it also be gathering sensitive information about you?
According to a report by The Associated Press, the proposed class-action lawsuits were filed in Cook County on Oct. 9 and allege violations of Illinois’ Biometric Information Privacy Act. The complaints claim that the robots’ cameras and LiDAR sensors captured information on customers’ faces and hands as they approached the machines to pick up their orders. Both have denied the allegations.