OpenAI day 5 LIVE — here's what we can expect today

OpenAI Canvas is like having an editor with me as a write

After yesterday’s announcement and release of OpenAI Canvas, it’s safe to say that users are excited that the writing and editing tool is finally out of beta. As someone who has regularly used Google docs for my writing and to keep track of edits, after I went hands-on with Canvas, I’m finally moving on.

OpenAI’s Canvas is here, and it’s redefining what it means to collaborate with AI. Canvas transforms ChatGPT from a helpful chatbot into a powerful writing and coding editor. With its AI-first approach, Canvas offers tools for drafting, refining, and even debugging in real time, making it a game-changer for productivity.

Google docs is great for collaborating with  others, but as a writer who usually works alone before sending to an editor, I appreciate that I can collaborate with AI on Canvas and make real-time edits based on what the chatbot suggests. From my experience testing Canvas yesterday, it’s clear that the chatbot does an excellent job offering edits that will make my work clearer and more concise.

Canvas allows users to highlight text and ask ChatGPT for specific edits, such as rephrasing or expanding on ideas. Need to refine your tone for a professional audience or make your writing more concise? Canvas handles it seamlessly. I tested this by editing a bio blurb, and Canvas provided a polished, in-depth version perfect for LinkedIn or my personal website. This feature is especially handy for tailoring content to specific word counts or styles required by different platforms.

Unique tools like the "pop-out writing button" make Canvas even more versatile. Adjust your target audience, tweak the text length, or even add emojis for emphasis. The “final polish” button ensures your work is clear, grammatically sound, and professional. Unlike Grammarly, which often auto-corrects in the background, Canvas puts you in control, making it feel more collaborative.

Canvas is a reimagining of how AI integrates with productivity. By making Canvas free and available to everyone, OpenAI has taken a significant step toward making AI-powered productivity tools accessible to all. For writers, developers, and creators of all kinds, Canvas represents the future of collaborative AI. Try it, and you might never look at Google Docs the same way again.

Tips for getting more out of o1

It might feel like the announcement of the full o1 model was months ago, but it was less than a week. On its own this would have been a major announcement from OpenAI but as part of its 12 Days extravaganza, it is a blip in a busy week.

However, o1 is an incredibly important model, bringing reasoning capabilities to ChatGPT that allow you to work through problems, code and plan in a way not possible with GPT-4o.

The bad news is, unless you are prepared to sign up for the $200 a month Pro plan, we mere mortals on the Plus plan will have to put up with a max limit of 50 messages a week.

We've pulled together some tips for getting the most out of o1 including picking your cases carefully and using it to brainstorm ideas.

Could we get a new GPT model today?

Multiple people inside OpenAI have suggested that we might not get another GPT model, or at least it might not be called GPT-. So, that would suggest no GPT-4.5 or even GPT-5 is on the horizon — but that hasn't stopped the rumor mill.

So, where do the rumors come from? Well, one user found GPT-4.5 buried in the ChatGPT source code and a UI leak saw a reference to ChatGPT ε (epsilon) which is the fifth letter of the Greek alphabet. OpenAI has not been shy at dropping hints like this in the past.

Tibor Blaho, who has shared accurate leaks int he past, discovered a hidden line in the 'Upgrade your plan" view. It offered a "limited preview of GPT-4.5" as a Team plan perk. This has since been removed.

Whatever happens, we will find out for sure at 1pm ET.

No, you don’t need to pay $200 a month for ChatGPT

One of the most surprising announcements from the 12 Days of OpenAI event was the $200 per month ChatGPT Pro plan. At 10 times the price of ChatGPT Plus, it was clearly not meant for us mere mortal AI users — but why not?

With the Pro subscription, you get unlimited access to Advanced Voice, the full o1 model, unlimited GPT-4o access and the ability to use the new o1 Pro model.

You also get more compute power behind your queries but this, and o1 Pro, are only useful for incredibly complex tasks in the research space.

The biggest update came on Day 3 of the 12 Days of OpenAI when they announced ChatGPT Pro users would also get the extra Sora use. This also includes the ability to generate videos of people, something not available with ChatGPT Plus. But dedicated Sora plans are coming next year.

My recommendation, unless you’re a research scientist, or professional software developer working on particularly complex code, or have more money than you need and want to try it out for the sake of trying it out — stick with the $20 plan.

Hands on with ChatGPT Canvas

Amanda Caswell

OpenAI just officially launched Canvas, and I couldn’t wait to try it. The latest from OpenAI brings a new level of interactivity and collaboration to ChatGPT. No longer in beta, Canvas is now available to all users, regardless of tier — for free — providing a powerful AI-first writing and coding editor built directly into ChatGPT.

The first thing I noticed was that Canvas transformed ChatGPT from a simple chat assistant into a collaborative partner for writing and coding projects. By opening a dedicated workspace, I was able to start a draft on the page or upload text.

From there, I could edit and refine text or code in real-time. Whether you’re brainstorming ideas, editing a report or debugging complex code, Canvas offers a seamless, AI-driven experience with a real-time AI editor.

Users can either start their project directly in Canvas or transition from a chat conversation by typing “use Canvas.” Since the beta preview, Canvas has added more features, offering flexibility that bridges the gap between conversational AI and traditional document editing tools, potentially offering the best of both worlds.

Whether you’re working on a personal essay, a detailed report or a coding project, Canvas turns AI into an active partner in your workflow. It's elevated the way I outline, brainstorm and edit. Because Canvas integrates so seamlessly into ChatGPT, it is accessible and easy to use, empowering everyone from writers to developers. OpenAI making the feature free to everyone is just the icing on the AI cake.

You can read my full review of ChatGPT Canvas as we look ahead to what might come today. We may even get other ChatGPT upgrades (better image generation would be nice).

What can we expect on Day 5?

OpenAI has had several big announcements in the first 4 days of their 12 Days of AI extravaganza including o1 reasoning model, $200 for ChatGPT Pro, fine-tuned AI model training, Sora and most recently ChatGPT Canvas.

Through Dec. 20 there will be more, but some of them will be bigger than others. If you consider the ChatGPT Canvas update 'relatively small' then we could see something big tonight — rumors hint at GPT-4.5 but Altman has previously said no new GPT models.

We've yet to have an update to Advanced Voice and it is likely it will get a new vision capability before the end of this two week frenzy of AI news.