OpenAI has unveiled a new option called Flex processing, an API service designed to provide more affordable AI model usage in exchange for slower response times and occasional resource unavailability.
This new feature, available in beta for OpenAI's recently released o3 and o4-mini reasoning models, aims to cater to lower-priority and non-production tasks such as model evaluations, data enrichment, and asynchronous workloads.
Flex processing cuts API costs by half, making it an attractive option for businesses and developers seeking to reduce expenses on non-urgent AI tasks. For instance, the cost of using the o3 model through Flex is $5 per million input tokens (approximately 750,000 words) and $20 per million output tokens, compared to the standard price of $10 and $40, respectively. Meanwhile, for the o4-mini model, Flex pricing drops to $0.55 per million input tokens and $2.20 per million output tokens, down from $1.10 and $4.40.
This move comes as OpenAI faces increased competition from rival AI companies, such as Google, which recently launched its Gemini 2.5 Flash reasoning model. Gemini 2.5 Flash offers similar performance to DeepSeek's R1 at a lower input token cost, underscoring the growing trend of more affordable, budget-friendly AI options.
Additionally, OpenAI announced that developers in usage tiers 1-3 will need to undergo a new ID verification process to access the o3 model. This verification is part of OpenAI's efforts to ensure that its services are not misused by bad actors, as it seeks to protect its usage policies.
With the introduction of Flex processing, OpenAI is positioning itself to remain competitive in the rapidly evolving AI landscape, offering cost-effective solutions for developers working with non-critical tasks while maintaining the integrity of its services.
As the Ukraine war is highlighted by some leaders during the United Nations' 81st General Assembly meetin...
The 81st UN General Assembly returns for its third day in New York on Thursday, with world leaders delivering high-level speeches and holding diplo...
Shipping traffic through the Strait of Hormuz remained low on Thursday, as Iran reiterated that it will neither enter into new negotiations with th...
As the Ukraine war is highlighted by some leaders during the United Nations' 81st General Assembly meeting in New York, Russian forces attacked the Ukrainian capital Kyiv early on Thursday with ballistic missiles, killing two people and injuring six, Mayor Vitali Klitschko said.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio is set to meet Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in New York on Wednesday, as Washington pushes for an end to the war in Ukraine and Kyiv and Moscow continue to strike energy infrastructure.
Shipping traffic through the Strait of Hormuz remained low on Thursday, as Iran reiterated that it will neither enter into new negotiations with the United States nor re-open the Strait as long as its conditions are not met, despite recent indirect talks in New York mediated by Qatar.
U.S. President Donald Trump is addressing the UN General Assembly as world leaders gather in New York for the 81st session. Conflicts in the Middle East and Ukraine, global security and diplomacy set to dominate the event.
U.S. President Donald Trump said his team held a three-hour meeting with an Iranian delegation in New York that he described as “very good” and “productive”, with another round of talks scheduled soon.
Meta has unveiled a new generation of wearables, including lightweight virtual reality glasses and camera-free smart spectacles, as it pushes AI-powered devices further into the mainstream while seeking to address privacy concerns.
U.S. President Donald Trump announced on Saturday (19 September) the creation of an “AI Force” and plans to appoint an artificial intelligence (AI) czar, while rejecting calls to slow the development of increasingly powerful AI systems.
Google’s Gemini AI model accessed the internet and hacked three companies during a cybersecurity test, in what is believed to be the first known case of the company’s AI systems autonomously carrying out such activity.
Here's your AnewZ Daily Brief for 18 September 2026. These are the top five stories making headlines in the field of science.
French prosecutors have launched a criminal investigation into suspected sexual harassment involving smart glasses, amid mounting global concern over the privacy risks posed by the devices.
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