According to OpenAI, the lighter Deep Research tool may keep its answers brief — but that doesn’t mean they skimp on substance. You’ll still get valuable insights, just delivered in a more concise package.
What is Deep Research?
OpenAI first unveiled its Deep Research tool earlier this year, built on a customized version of its upcoming o3 model — fine-tuned specifically for web browsing and deep data dives. While GPT-4o shines in snappy chats and real-time interactions, Deep Research is designed for the long haul — ideal for detailed tasks like gathering references, fact-checking, and handling complex queries that need more than just quick responses.
Deep Research is like having an AI research assistant in ChatGPT. Drop in a query — say, a product comparison or market overview — and it scours the web, analyzes content, and delivers a structured report with sources and a step-by-step summary.
It can take 5 to 30 minutes, depending on the complexity, but runs in the background so you can keep working. The new lightweight version does similar work, just faster and with fewer system demands.
How to use the Deep Research tool in ChatGPT
Just select ‘Deep Research’ from the message composer in ChatGPT and enter your query. You can even upload files like PDFs or spreadsheets to give the AI more context.OpenAI says future updates will bring visual upgrades — think charts and data visualizations — to make reports even easier to digest.
Usage Limit Increased
With the rollout of the lightweight Deep Research tool, OpenAI has also added usage limits:
– Free users get 5 queries/month
– Plus, Team, Enterprise, and Education users get 25 queries/month
– Pro users can run up to 250 queries/month
Once you hit your full-version limit, ChatGPT will automatically switch to the lightweight version — no disruption. Enterprise and Education users are set to get access to the lighter tool next week, with the same limits as Team accounts.