ChatGPT Plus subscribers just got a surprise free gift – unlimited OpenAI Sora access for the holidays

OpenAI o3 Mini
(Image credit: Future)

  • 12 days of OpenAI finished on Friday
  • That hasn't stopped Sam Altman from gifting a final 13th announcement
  • ChatGPT Plus subscribers get unlimited Sora access over the holidays

The 12 days of OpenAI event ended on Friday, but that didn't stop Sam Altman from making a bonus 13th announcement this weekend - and it's a good one.

Taking to X, the OpenAI CEO, announced that Sora will be completely free for all ChatGPT Plus users over the holidays, giving unlimited access to the brand-new AI video generator.

Sora was just made available to the public last week, and it's already proving to be a huge success, thanks to its ease of use and quick ability to turn any prompt into video. Altman announced the bonus gift claiming "Our GPUs get a little less busy during late December as people take a break from work," in other words, have some fun with AI and Sora this December, and make AI-generated videos of puppies.

The announcement follows the major finale to 12 days of OpenAI, where the company behind ChatGPT announced its new o3 and o3-mini reasoning models, which outperform existing models and are expected to launch in the next few months.

To get early access to o3 when it becomes available as well as take advantage of unlimited Sora access over the next week or so, you'll need ChatGPT Plus. ChatGPT Plus costs $20/£16/AU$30 a month and comes with many other benefits including faster response times and all the latest models from OpenAI.

A very merrAI Christmas

And just like that OpenAI's 12 (13) day-long event has come to a close. Major announcements included the arrival of Sora, ChatGPT Search for all, o3, and even a walkthrough of ChatGPT as part of Siri in iOS 18.2. It's fair to say, that while the 12 days dragged on at points, OpenAI's two-week event has been a major success for the world of AI and shows the possibilities of artificial intelligence in 2025.

Looking back at the evolution of AI models over the last 12 months, who knows where we'll be this time next year? One thing is for sure, the AI video generation era is just beginning and Sora alongside Google's Veo 2, and Pika look set to make 2025 very interesting indeed.

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John-Anthony Disotto
Senior Writer AI

John-Anthony Disotto is TechRadar's Senior Writer, AI, bringing you the latest news on, and comprehensive coverage of, tech's biggest buzzword. An expert on all things Apple, he was previously iMore's How To Editor, and has a monthly column in MacFormat. He's based in Edinburgh, Scotland, where he worked for Apple as a technician focused on iOS and iPhone repairs at the Genius Bar. John-Anthony has used the Apple ecosystem for over a decade, and is an award-winning journalist with years of experience in editorial.

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