OpenAI is rolling out a new “lightweight” version of its ChatGPT deep research tool that will be available to all users. According to the AI company, this iteration of the tool is nearly as intelligent as the full deep research tool while being considerably cheaper to serve.
This lightweight deep search is powered by a version of OpenAI’s o4-mini model and will provide responses that are shorter. However, the company claims that the shorter responses will still maintain the same amount of depth and quality that users expect from the full version of the tool.
The lightweight version of deep research is powered by a version of OpenAI o4-mini and is nearly as intelligent as the deep research people already know and love, while being significantly cheaper to serve.
Responses will typically be shorter while maintaining the depth and… pic.twitter.com/H2UD5GThVj
— OpenAI (@OpenAI) April 24, 2025
For Plus, Team and Pro users, the lightweight deep search will automatically be used for queries once limits for the original version of deep search are reached. OpenAI explained that the introduction of the lightweight form of the tool is to allow the company to increase the current usage limits.
ChatGPT is not the only AI chatbot with the ability to scour the internet and compile research reports on subjects. Google, Microsoft, and even xAI have recently launched deep research tools for their respective chatbots, allowing users to make use of advanced AI reasoning models to conduct in-depth research. It’s very likely that OpenAI is looking to make its own deep research tools accessible to more users to encourage the use of ChatGPT over other chatbots.
(Source: TechCrunch)
