OpenAI has just rolled out a series of upgrades to ChatGPT that truly cement its position as the best-value AI tool on the market right now. From vastly improved image generation to deeper research capabilities and the long-awaited UK release of Sora – it’s safe to say the $20/month subscription represents even better value for money than ever before.
Here’s a quick list of the biggest updates and what they actually mean in real life…
1. Goodbye DALL·E, Hello Next-Gen Image Generation with 4o
The new 4o model was quietly dropped yesterday meaning Dall-E is now a legacy tool. If you've been a Midjourney fan like me, you'll know how tricky it’s been to beat on realism and style. But honestly? I think we're there now and Midjourney has got some stiff competition from ChatGPT & Sora.
The new image generation is fast, stunningly realistic and built directly into the ChatGPT 4o experience. You can type a prompt, tweak it on the fly and even use natural language to describe edits. That means for most casual and professional use, there’s really no need to pay extra for Midjourney anymore.
It's currently still fairly well hidden and here’s where you access it inside ChatGPT:
Click the image button and start prompting like you would with Midjourney – but without the Discord headaches.
2. Sora Arrives in the UK – For Free (Yes, Really)
We’ve been waiting a while for this one, but Sora is now available in the UK for anyone with a paid ChatGPT account. This is OpenAI’s powerful video generation model that lets you generate realistic video just from a text prompt.
The best part? No extra fees. It’s included in your ChatGPT Plus subscription. So if you’ve been playing around with Runway or Kling, you can now save yourself a bit of cash and stick to one platform.
💡 Top tip: Make sure you’re logged in to your main ChatGPT Plus account and you’ll find Sora under the Explore tab as it gradually rolls out.
3. GPT-4.5: A Smarter, Slower Experiment
You might also notice a new model labelled GPT-4.5 in the dropdown. This is still experimental but has been designed to be more nuanced and "human" in its responses.
It’s not lightning fast like 4o – in fact, it can be a bit sluggish – but it might be the right tool for more complex, thoughtful outputs.
🧪 My advice? Try it out on tasks like content writing, customer comms or roleplaying scenarios. See if you prefer the style of output – just be aware it may take longer to respond.
4. Projects – Context is King
Projects quietly dropped in February and are already changing how I work with ChatGPT.
You can now group your files, chats and custom instructions by topic – think “Client Projects” or “Specific Jobs ”. It’s a much more natural way to organise your work and gives ChatGPT more context when responding.
You can even upload up to 20 files in each project, just like with GPTs.
📁 Top tip: Keep your naming simple and consistent. Something like “Customer Brief” is much easier to reference in your prompts than “final_file_new-18-02-2025.pdf”.
5. Deep Research Mode – Finally, Better Web Research
For the past year, I’ve warned clients not to rely too heavily on ChatGPT’s web mode for research tasks – it was hit-and-miss at times. But now we’ve got a dedicated Deep Research mode, and it’s a game-changer.
It takes longer (so go make a cup of tea), and you only get 10 queries a month – but the results are much more detailed and consistent.
🕵️♂️ My advice: Craft your prompt in standard web mode first. Once it’s working well, re-run it in Deep Research to get the richer output.
ChatGPT lead the way again!
With all these updates bundled into one $20/month subscription, it’s hard to argue that ChatGPT isn’t the most powerful and affordable AI platform available right now. Whether you’re creating visuals, generating videos, researching, or managing complex projects – it’s got you covered.
If you haven’t explored some of these features yet, now is the perfect time to dive in. And if you need help getting to grips with any of them, don’t forget – we run training and workshops that can walk you through all of this in real time.
Which of these new features are you most excited about? Drop me a message or let me know in the comments – always keen to hear how you’re using these updates in your business.
Christos Panayiotou
Embrace AI Training
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