ChatGPT o3-pro: The Smartest AI Yet or Just More Hype?
OpenAI just dropped its most powerful AI model yet: o3-pro. Touted as a leap in reasoning and performance, this new model powers ChatGPT Pro and Team plans. But is it truly a game-changer—or just an expensive upgrade with a fancy name?
In this article, we’ll break down what this new model is, what it can do, where it struggles, whether it’s AGI (spoiler: it’s not), and how it compares to other top AI models like Gemini, DeepSeek, and Claude.
🚀 What Is o3-pro and What’s New?
Launched in June 2025, o3-pro is OpenAI’s latest premium model designed for deep thinking, better accuracy, and tool-enabled tasks like coding, math, web search, and more.
✅ Key Advantages (Short Version)
- Superior reasoning for complex problems
- Better accuracy and fewer hallucinations
- Supports tool use (Python, web, files, image analysis)
- Huge 200K token memory window
- Top benchmark scores in reasoning-heavy tasks
But it’s not perfect—and definitely not AGI.
🤖 Is This AGI? Nope—And Here’s Why
AGI—or Artificial General Intelligence—is an AI that can think, learn, and act across any task better than humans. Think: an AI that could write novels, drive cars, do surgery, and babysit—all without being trained for it.
OpenAI hinted o3 might be close to AGI, after scoring high on the ARC-AGI benchmark. But CEO Sam Altman later clarified: “We haven’t built AGI yet.”
O3 pro is smarter, but it’s still narrow, guided, and non-autonomous.
It can reason, but it can’t truly understand. That’s the AGI gap.
🌟 Where o3-pro Truly Shines
o3-pro isn’t just about buzz—it really is better in many areas:
| Strength Area | What Makes It Stand Out |
|---|---|
| 🧠 Reasoning | Solves complex logic, legal, and math problems |
| 🔍 Accuracy | Fewer hallucinations, more factual responses |
| 🛠 Tool Use | Executes Python, reads files, browses web |
| 📚 Memory | Handles large inputs (200K tokens) |
| 📊 Benchmark Scores | Among the highest in industry for math & logic |
📊 Verified Benchmark Scores
These scores reflect either official o3-pro results or closely related o3 model results (noted below).
| Test/Benchmark | o3 pro / o3 | Gemini 2.5 Pro | Claude 3 Opus | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| AIME Math | ✅ 93% | 92% | ~89% | Verified o3-pro score |
| GPQA Diamond | ✅ 84% | ~84% | ~80% | Verified o3-pro score |
| Codeforces Elo | ✅ ~2727¹ | — | — | From o3 (non-pro) benchmark |
| ARC-AGI (private) | ✅ 87.5%² | — | — | o3 (non-pro), high compute mode |
| SWE-Bench | ✅ 69.1%³ | ~65% | ~60% | o3 (non-pro) result used |
¹ Applies to o3; o3-pro assumed similar.
² Benchmark where AGI claims emerged—now walked back.
³ Software engineering benchmark.
Learn more about the benchmark scores of o3 pro here.
⚠️ But It’s Not All Perfect
Here’s where o3-pro falls short:
| Weakness | Why It Matters |
|---|---|
| 🐢 Slower Speed | Takes 1–5 minutes per reply (can also take much longer) |
| 💸 High Cost | $20 input / $80 output per million tokens |
| 🧍 Not Autonomous | Can’t act on its own or learn new skills |
| 🤖 Still Hallucinates | Much more reliable, but not 100% truthful |
| 🔌 Resource-Heavy | Needs lots of compute power and time |
Other problems include lack of temporary chat, no image generation and no canvas. (Likely to be added soon)
🔍 o3-pro vs Other Top Models (Features & Use Cases)
| Model | Reasoning | Cost | Speed | Tool Use | Best For |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| o3-pro | ⭐⭐⭐⭐ | 💸💸💸💸 | 🐢🐢🐢 | ✅✅✅ | Research, code, law, reports |
| Gemini 2.5 Pro | ⭐⭐⭐⭐ | 💸💸 | ⚡⚡⚡⚡ | ✅✅ | Education, Q&A, assistant tasks |
| Claude 3 Opus | ⭐⭐⭐⭐ | 💸💸💸 | ⚡⚡⚡ | ✅ (limited) | Writing, summaries, storytelling |
| DeepSeek R1 | ⭐⭐⭐ | 💸 | ⚡⚡⚡ | ❌ | Technical docs, science parsing |
| GPT-4o | ⭐⭐⭐ | 💸💸 | ⚡⚡⚡⚡⚡ | ✅✅✅ | Casual tasks, multimodal queries |
🔚 Final Verdict: Worth It?
If you need deep analysis, reliable reasoning, or advanced tool use, o3-pro is the smartest AI available from OpenAI right now. It’s designed for professionals who care more about precision than speed.
But if you’re after quick responses, affordability, or creativity, models like GPT-4o, Gemini, or Claude may serve you better.
o3-pro isn’t AGI—but it’s clearly a step toward it.