Launches

GPT-6's bumpy launch, a new top ChatGPT plan and 1.2 billion weekly users

September brought OpenAI's new GPT-6 models, an apology from Sam Altman for a messy rollout, a new top-tier subscription, always-on Dots agents for Pro subscribers and 1.2 billion weekly ChatGPT users.

By Chris · News from Sep 29, 2026 · 4 min read · Checked Oct 2, 2026

September was a huge month for ChatGPT, and not an entirely smooth one. OpenAI released a new family of models called GPT-6, apologized for a confusing rollout, added a new top-tier plan, and said 1.2 billion people now use ChatGPT every week.

A new model, and a muddled rollout

A model is the AI engine underneath a chatbot. ChatGPT is the app you talk to; GPT-6 is the newest family of engines powering it. OpenAI began rolling out its top GPT-6 model, called Astra, on September 3, 2026, Engadget reported. Two lower tiers, Sol and Luna, followed on September 22, according to The Next Web.

The launch hit a snag. At first, only organizations in OpenAI's Daybreak cybersecurity program could use Astra, CSO reported. OpenAI had said Astra was coming to ChatGPT Plus subscribers, but Plus users found they could use it only inside two specialist tools, ChatGPT Work (for slides and spreadsheets) and Codex (a coding assistant), not in ordinary chat. Users asked for clarification on OpenAI's community forum. Chief executive Sam Altman then posted on X: "First, sorry for the messy rollout."

A new top plan and always-on agents

At DevDay on September 29, OpenAI's event for developers, the company unveiled a third and most expensive tier of ChatGPT Pro, joining the two existing Pro tiers, Neowin reported. OpenAI says it offers 25 times the usage of Plus, and it is the only Pro tier with Ultrafast, a faster mode for Codex. ChatGPT now runs from a free plan (with ads for logged-in adults in the US) through Go and Plus to the three Pro tiers; current prices are on our ChatGPT plans page.

The middle Pro tier, meanwhile, is getting less. From October 30, its included usage in ChatGPT Work and Codex falls from 20 times to 10 times the Plus allowance, and the plan is open to new subscribers again, The Next Web reported.

Pro subscribers, on any of the three Pro tiers, along with business customers on the Business Premium plan, also get Dots: persistent agents that work in the cloud without needing a prompt, with the first Dot included at no extra cost, MediaNama reported. An agent is an AI that carries out tasks rather than only answering questions; persistent means it keeps working in the background. Dots are not yet available to Pro users in the European Economic Area, Switzerland or the UK, The Next Web reported.

OpenAI also released an upgraded model, GPT-6.1 Sol, at DevDay. It is available to paying subscribers in ChatGPT Work and Codex, and to developers at about a fifth of Astra's price, The Next Web reported. At the same event, Altman said OpenAI now has an AI research intern, a goal it had set a year earlier.

1.2 billion people a week

Also at DevDay, OpenAI said ChatGPT now has 1.2 billion weekly users, The Next Web and the-decoder reported. That is up from 900 million in February, and comes only weeks after the service passed the one-billion mark. ChatGPT remains far ahead of other assistants in total users. Comparisons are tricky, though, because companies count differently: Google, for example, reported in August that its Gemini app had passed one billion monthly users, which is a different measure from weekly users.

Still, the field is getting more crowded. By the web-analytics firm Similarweb's estimates, ChatGPT's share of visits to generative-AI websites fell from about 76% in June 2025 to about 53% in May 2026, while Google's Gemini and Anthropic's Claude grew. Biggest is not the same as unchallenged.

What we don't know yet

OpenAI's own pages blocked automated reading, so the 1.2 billion figure is reported by the press rather than checked on OpenAI's site.
Reports differ on exactly when ChatGPT first passed one billion weekly users. Dates from late July to early September circulate, so we have not given one.
When Plus and Business users will get full Astra access in ordinary chat. OpenAI has said only that the rollout is gradual.
Model names and prices are changing fast; check OpenAI's own pages for current details.

Sources

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