OpenAI is officially rolling out its latest model, o3-mini, starting today, Friday, Jan. 31. The company shared the news in a blog post on its website, just over a month after officially announcing the model during its "12 Days of OpenAI."

As with each refreshed generative AI model, o3-mini is an improvement over o1-mini—but not by as much as you might think. OpenAI says the two models perform the same in math, coding, and science, but o3-mini offers quicker answers to user queries—24% faster, in A/B testing. According to the company, testers comparing the models found o3-mini produces "more accurate and clear answers, with stronger reasoning abilities." And, with "medium reasoning effort," o3-mini matches o1 in certain reasoning and intelligence evaluations.

Like o1-mini, o3-mini is a reasoning model, a type of AI model that "thinks" through answers before responding to them. o3-mini has three different reasoning "efforts" depending on the use case: low, medium, and high. In mathematics testing, for instance, o3-mini's medium and high effort reasoning out erforms o1-mini, while high effort even outperforms o1 (the more powerful version of o1-mini). All three efforts beat o1-mini in PhD-level science questions, but o1 outperforms them all.

o3-mini replaces the o1-mini model for all users. OpenAI doesn't explicitly state why you can't use o1-mini going forward, but touts that o3-mini has higher rate limits and lower latency than the previous model.

At launch, only ChatGPT Plus, Team, and Pro users can access o3-mini. OpenAI says Enterprise users can access the model in a week. (In addition, Plus and Team users will see their daily rate limits jump from 50 messages on o1-mini to 150 messages.)

That said, free users will be able to try o3-mini in a limited capacity, either by choosing the "Reasoning" option in the message composer, or regenerating a response. OpenAI says it's the first time free users have had access to a reasoning model in ChatGPT, which comes one day after Microsoft offered o1's reasoning to Copilot users for free.

You can learn more about o3-mini in our post here. But as the model is only rolling out today, we won't know exactly how it performs until real-world testers start to use it.

AUSTIN (KXAN) -- Willie Nelson's annual 4th of July Picnic and Fireworks show is returning to its Lone Star roots this summer.

The beloved Texas musician's 4th of July celebration will be held at the Germania Insurance Arena on July 4 in Austin, reverting back to Texas after last year's concert was held in Camden, New Jersey.

The 2025 lineup will feature Willie Nelson & Family, Bob Dylan, The Avett Brothers, The Mavericks, Asleep At The Wheel and Tami Neilson, per Monday's announcement.

“I’m 92 years old and I’ll be there so you have no excuse,” Nelson said in the release. “I look forward to bringing back my annual 4th of July Picnic to the city I love and sharing this special event with all my Austin fans.”

Nelson began the holiday tradition in 1973, according to records from the Bullock Texas State History Museum. That concert began as a three-day stint in Dripping Springs, with the location paying homage to the Dripping Springs Reunion Nelson played in 1972 that inspired the creation of the 4th of July concert.

The 2024 concert, played at the Freedom Mortgage Pavilion in Camden, featured Bob Dylan, Robert Plant & Alison Krauss, Maren Morris, Mavis Staples and Celisse on its lineup. Prior to its northeastern relocation, Q2 Stadium hosted the concert in 2022 and 2023, following a virtual iteration of the show in 2021.

Nelson's traditional showcase has only strayed away from Texas a handful of times. Prior to the 2024 concert, the last time it was held outside Texas was in 2009, when the concert took place in South Bend, Indiana.

Other non-Texas locations included Tulsa, Oklahoma in 1977; Kansas City, Missouri in 1978; Atlanta, Georgia in 1983; and George, Washington in 2007.

General ticket sales begin at 10 a.m. on Friday on Ticketmaster's website. Alongside eight hours' worth of live music, the event will also include food, drinks and fireworks.