OpenAI has unveiled Deep Research, a sophisticated AI agent designed to automate complex, multi-step internet research tasks that would typically take humans many hours to complete. The new tool, announced in a Sunday blog post, represents OpenAI’s latest product launch as the company faces intensifying competition from Chinese AI startup DeepSeek.
Deep Research is exclusively available to ChatGPT Pro subscribers paying $200 monthly and targets professionals in finance, science, policy, and engineering sectors. Unlike traditional ChatGPT tools that require continuous user interaction, Deep Research operates autonomously for 5 to 30 minutes, dynamically adjusting its research approach in real-time as it gathers information from across the internet.
The AI agent is powered by a fine-tuned version of OpenAI’s o3 reasoning model and can independently browse the web, extract data from multiple sources, and generate comprehensive, fully-cited reports. According to Mark Chen, OpenAI’s Chief Research Officer, the output resembles “something that an analyst or an expert in a field might produce.”
In terms of performance benchmarks, Deep Research has achieved a 26.6% score on “Humanity’s Last Exam,” an AI benchmark featuring expert-level questions—a significant improvement over GPT-4’s 3.3% score. However, OpenAI acknowledges the model’s limitations, cautioning that it can still “hallucinate” incorrect information and may struggle to differentiate between rumors and verified facts.
CEO Sam Altman actively promoted the new tool on X (formerly Twitter), encouraging users to “try it on your hardest work task that can be solved just by using the internet and see what happens.” The launch follows Friday’s release of o3-mini, a cost-efficient reasoning AI model, demonstrating OpenAI’s accelerated product rollout strategy.
These launches come in direct response to competitive pressure from DeepSeek’s R1 model, which disrupted the tech industry and Wall Street last month by apparently matching OpenAI’s capabilities at significantly lower costs. Altman previously committed to delivering “much better models” and moving more quickly following DeepSeek’s emergence.
OpenAI’s recent product velocity has been remarkable, with the company launching its Operator AI agent last month and releasing the text-to-video model Sora to the public in December, signaling an aggressive strategy to maintain market leadership in the rapidly evolving AI landscape.
Key Quotes
something that an analyst or an expert in a field might produce
Mark Chen, OpenAI’s Chief Research Officer, described the quality of reports generated by Deep Research, emphasizing the tool’s ability to produce professional-grade research outputs comparable to human experts.
try it on your hardest work task that can be solved just by using the internet and see what happens
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman encouraged users on X to test Deep Research’s capabilities on challenging real-world tasks, demonstrating confidence in the tool’s practical applications for professional workflows.
much better models
Sam Altman’s commitment to delivering superior AI models and accelerating development timelines came in direct response to DeepSeek’s R1 model release, signaling OpenAI’s competitive response strategy.
Our Take
OpenAI’s rapid-fire product launches reveal a company in competitive overdrive. Deep Research represents a significant evolution in AI agents—moving from conversational assistants to autonomous research tools that can operate independently for extended periods. The 26.6% benchmark score, while impressive compared to GPT-4, also highlights how far AI still has to go before achieving true expert-level reasoning. The $200/month price point positions this as an enterprise-grade tool, suggesting OpenAI is targeting high-value professional use cases where time savings justify premium pricing. DeepSeek’s disruption has clearly accelerated OpenAI’s innovation cycle, which ultimately benefits the broader AI ecosystem. However, the acknowledged hallucination risks underscore that even advanced AI agents require human oversight—autonomous doesn’t mean infallible. This launch solidifies the emerging trend of AI agents as the next frontier beyond chatbots.
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Source: https://www.businessinsider.com/openai-deep-research-launch-chatgpt-ai-agent-deepseek-2025-2