OpenAI’s latest AI model GPT-6 Astra is seeing massive demand, so much so that the Sam Altman-led startup has now temporarily stopped taking new subscriptions for its $200 Pro plan. The decision was announced by OpenAI product leader Thibault ‘Tibo’ Sottiaux on X, who said the demand for Astra is really unprecedented. He added that the Claude AI rival has already gone through periods of very steep growth, but he has not seen anything like the current demand.
“Demand for Astra is really unprecedented. We’re pulling all the levers possible to sustain the demand, but I’ve not seen anything like it until now and we went through very steep growth before. Priority will always be to keep excellent service for existing users, but we might have to pause new Pro subscriptions for a bit if this continues,” Sottiaux wrote on X.
He also said that OpenAI is trying every possible way to handle the growing demand. However, the company also wants to make sure that people who are already using Astra continue to get a good experience.
According to him, OpenAI has decided to pause new subscriptions to the Pro plan temporarily because these accounts put the most pressure on its systems. The company chose this as the ‘smallest step’ that could help it manage the situation while keeping access to Astra available to as many users as possible.
The important part is that existing Pro users will not be affected.
If you are already subscribed to the $200 Pro plan, your account and access to Astra will continue as before. The company is only stopping new users from signing up for the plan for now. OpenAI has also made it clear that this is not a wider shutdown. All other plans and the API remain available.
The company is now working on increasing its capacity to handle the demand. Sottiaux said OpenAI is adding more capacity “as fast as we can”.
