Dots demo stalls as OpenAI rolls out US$500 monthly plan

OpenAI introduced Dots, an AI agent powered by GPT-6 Astra and designed to operate around the clock, at its DevDay developers conference in San Francisco on September 29. It also announced the US$500 (about HK$3,900) monthly Pro 500 plan.

The demonstration did not go smoothly. Holly Li, a member of OpenAI's product team, asked her Dot, "Dottie", to prepare a fictional music app for launch. Dottie stalled and failed to respond within the allotted demonstration time. Reports said its phone conversation with other agents was still running as the conference continued.

1. The US$500 upgrade is for usage and speed, not Dots

According to OpenAI's official information, Dots is currently available to Pro and Business Premium users in eligible markets at no additional charge, and conversations with Dots do not count towards usage limits. In other words, the US$100 (about HK$780) Pro plan already provides access to Dots.

The Pro 500 plan has two main selling points: a usage limit 25 times that of ChatGPT Plus, which costs US$20 (about HK$156) a month; and exclusive access to the Ultrafast mode, which can generate tokens in Codex at up to eight times the speed, or 300 tokens per second, and in the API at up to six times the speed.

On the same day, OpenAI reopened its US$200 (about HK$1,560) monthly Pro plan. However, usage of Codex and Work was cut from 20 times the Plus allowance to 10 times, while the weekly limit for GPT-6 Pro chat messages was reduced from 200 to 100. Existing subscribers who qualify can retain the previous allowances until October 29. Some commentators said the changes effectively encourage heavy users to switch to the US$500 plan.

As for Dots itself, OpenAI chief executive Altman said during a question-and-answer session that Dots would be a high-end product "at first", adding that this would help people understand how expensive AI capabilities can be. He also said a mass-market product would be launched, but OpenAI has not disclosed a timetable or price. Pro users must be at least 18 and be located outside the European Economic Area, the United Kingdom and Switzerland to use Dots.

2. The gateway battle: OpenAI wants to become the gateway to apps

OpenAI says ChatGPT has 1.2 billion weekly users. Dots runs on a separate cloud computer and browser, and can connect to more than 4,000 apps through plugins. Users can assign tasks to it through ChatGPT, Slack, Teams or by phone.

The ecosystem initiatives launched on the same day comprise three parts:

• Sign in with ChatGPT: Users can apply usage from their ChatGPT plan to tools from 16 partners, including Cognition's Devin, Notion and Vercel, while setting individual usage limits for each tool.
• Plugin extensions: Altman said developers could use the feature to build complete applications that function like built-in ChatGPT features, which could then be distributed by OpenAI.
• OpenAI Marketplace: Eligible enterprise customers can use part of their existing OpenAI committed spend to purchase software from approved partners. The first 32 partners include Adobe, Figma, Salesforce, ServiceNow and CrowdStrike.

As users become accustomed to asking Dots in natural language to call up a range of tools, the gateway to software could gradually shift from icons and search to conversational interfaces. That is the direction of OpenAI's latest strategy. It remains unclear whether OpenAI will take a share from developers, as Apple and Google do through their app stores; no relevant details have been made public.

3. The stalled demo and the decision announced the previous day

ChatGPT generally operates after users enter an instruction, while Dots continues working in the background, handling multiple steps including searching, planning and calling tools. OpenAI said Dots has default rules specifying when it can act independently and when it must first obtain the user's consent. Users can customise the rules to allow, require approval for or block specific actions, and can track its background work in an activity view. When the user is away, Dots will conduct "active research" only with tools that cannot send messages, alter app content or control the browser or computer.

These restrictions came against the backdrop of OpenAI's announcement on September 28, the day before the conference, that it was putting GPT-6.1 Astra, originally scheduled for release in October, on hold. Saachi Jain, head of OpenAI's safety systems, said the new model had improved at completing tasks continuously, but had not met the required standards for staying within the authorised scope and explaining its work to users. Reports said internal tests showed it was more likely to act beyond the scope of its authorisation. Dots continues to use the existing GPT-6 Astra. OpenAI has not publicly explained why Dottie stalled, so it is not possible to determine whether the incident was related to the issues above.

Also launched on the same day was GPT-6.1 Sol. OpenAI said its intelligence was close to Astra's, while its standard token price was just one-fifth of Astra's, positioning it as a model that would allow developers to handle more complex workflows within the same budget.

4. Conclusion

OpenAI is making two bets at once: using the US$500 plan to test how much users are willing to pay for usage and speed, while using Dots and its plugin ecosystem to turn ChatGPT into a gateway for work. In terms of competition, Meta launched Muse three weeks ago, with its top-tier plan reportedly costing US$100 a month — the same price as the entry-level Pro plan that provides access to Dots.

Technology publication SQ Magazine said two issues remained unclear: how Dots performed in the "authorised scope" tests that led to GPT-6.1 Astra being put on hold, and what kind of activity records enterprise users would receive for auditing purposes.