Well, well, well - what do we have here? OpenAI, our friendly neighborhood AI overlord, has just dropped Deep Research, a feature that promises to do the thinking for you. That’s right, instead of just blurting out words like a glorified autocomplete, it now takes its sweet time (5 to 30 minutes!) to think, plan, backtrack, and generate a research response complete with a sidebar summary and citations. Because, you know, AI needed a sidebar to be taken seriously.

The Future of Research (or a Really Expensive Google Search?)

With Deep Research, users can upload text, images, PDFs, and spreadsheets, and the AI will hunker down, crunch numbers, and return a well-structured response. Future iterations will even include charts and embedded images - so basically, it’s learning to make PowerPoints now. But before you get too excited, OpenAI itself admits that the AI still hallucinates, struggles to distinguish between facts and nonsense, and isn’t great at knowing how certain it should be about its own conclusions.

Oh, and here’s the kicker: OpenAI claims Deep Research operates at the level of a research analyst. Now, before all the analysts out there start updating their résumés, let’s remember that this thing just barely beats random guessing on an AI benchmark exam called Humanity’s Last Exam. It scored a whopping 26.6% - which, if we’re being honest, is only impressive if you compare it to the previous model’s 3.3%.

Want to Use It? Hope You’ve Got Deep Pockets

Surprise, surprise - Deep Research isn’t free. OpenAI is offering up to 100 queries per month for those willing to cough up $200. Yes, TWO HUNDRED DOLLARS. For research mode. If you’re on the Plus plan, you get “limited access,” which is basically OpenAI’s way of saying, Yeah, you can try it out, but don’t get too comfortable. They also promise that future models will be faster and cheaper - because nothing says "we care about accessibility" like launching a feature at a price point higher than most people’s grocery budget.

AI Agents: The Next Step or Just Another Buzzword?

OpenAI isn’t alone in this AI arms race. Google’s Project Mariner is lurking in the shadows, promising similar research capabilities but with no release date in sight. Meanwhile, OpenAI is doubling down on AI agents, those elusive, autonomous digital assistants that every tech company insists will be the future - so long as you pay for them.

At the end of the day, Deep Research is just another stepping stone in OpenAI’s grand plan to make AI smarter, more autonomous, and, most importantly, more monetizable. If it works as promised, it could be a game-changer for researchers, students, and journalists. If not? Well, at least the sidebar looks nice.