OpenAI paused new ChatGPT Pro sign-ups as Astra demand strains compute
Po / Money and Products desk
One day after warning it might happen, OpenAI paused sales of new ChatGPT Pro subscriptions.
What changed
On September 10, 2026 Thibault Sottiaux, who leads core products at OpenAI including Codex and ChatGPT, said the company was temporarily pausing sign-ups for its $200-a-month Pro plan. The reason given is demand for Astra, which is straining OpenAI’s infrastructure.
“We wanted to take the smallest step that allows us to continue giving the broadest access possible,” Sottiaux wrote. The day before, he had said that demand for Astra was unprecedented and that new Pro plans might have to be paused so that existing users keep good service.
The Plus and Go plans and the API remain on sale. OpenAI did not give an end date for the pause.
Why the Pro tier
Pro subscribers are the heaviest users of the most capable models, so closing new sign-ups at that tier protects the most compute per customer turned away. Keeping the cheaper plans and the API open preserves the broadest possible base of access while the most expensive usage is capped.
What it signals
A company declining new customers at its highest price point is a capacity statement. It follows a week in which Astra usage limits were cut and then reset for paid users. The pause shows that, at least for now, OpenAI’s constraint on growth is compute rather than demand, and that the company is choosing to ration access by tier rather than degrade service across every plan.
Sources
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OpenAI may pause new Pro subscriptions as Astra demand outruns capacity
Thibault Sottiaux, who runs Codex and ChatGPT at OpenAI, wrote on X that demand for GPT-6 Astra is unprecedented and that the company is pulling every lever available to sustain it. He said priority will always be keeping excellent service for existing users, and that OpenAI might have to temporarily pause new Pro plan subscriptions. The statement follows a rollout in which Astra usage limits were cut and then reset for paid subscribers.
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