AsianFin -- OpenAI has introduced a streamlined version of its ChatGPT deep research tool—designed to comb the web and generate research summaries—now available to ChatGPT Plus, Team, and Pro users, the company announced Thursday.

The new "lightweight" deep research tool is also rolling out to free-tier users starting today. It’s powered by OpenAI’s o4-mini model, which is less powerful than the full version but significantly more cost-efficient, allowing OpenAI to increase usage limits.

“Responses will generally be shorter while still delivering the depth and quality users expect,” the company shared in a series of posts on X. Once users hit their limit for the original deep research tool, their queries will automatically switch to the lightweight version.