Islamabad, Feb 6: OpenAI stunned its 3.9 million followers on X.com with a surprise livestream announcement titled “Deep Research,” sparking immediate speculation. When the stream went live, OpenAI revealed its latest AI advancement: an agentic AI model designed to perform multi-step research tasks. This new tool is capable of discovering content, synthesizing findings, and applying reasoning to complex topics.
Deep Research marks a significant leap forward in AI’s ability to conduct and refine research. Unlike previous models, this AI can actively discover and analyze online content, synthesize large amounts of data, and apply reasoning to deliver refined results. One of its key features is its ability to ask clarifying questions to stay focused during long research processes. OpenAI has launched Deep Research for ChatGPT Pro users, with Plus and Team users set to follow soon. The company describes the model as a research agent that will help users by autonomously synthesizing online information and completing multi-step tasks.
The introduction of Deep Research seems to align with OpenAI’s previously secretive project, “Strawberry,” which was leaked in 2024. Known earlier as Q*, this project aimed to enhance AI’s human-like reasoning skills, enabling it to navigate the internet and conduct sophisticated research autonomously. Although OpenAI has not officially confirmed or denied the existence of “Strawberry,” sources suggest that this project represented a breakthrough in improving AI’s critical thinking abilities, a traditionally challenging area for AI models.
The announcement has sparked mixed reactions from the public. Some users on X.com joked about the timing, with comments such as, “It’s like DeepSeek, but cleaner,” and “Hope this research includes the secret to waking up early!” Others expressed concerns about OpenAI’s transparency, questioning whether the company can be trusted with such an advanced AI model.
Despite the varied responses, AI researchers see Deep Research as a major step toward autonomous AI agents capable of reshaping knowledge work. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has long emphasized that reasoning ability will be key to AI’s future advancements. With Deep Research now available to Pro users and expanding to other tiers soon, OpenAI is moving closer to its goal of AI-powered research agents capable of autonomous analysis, synthesis, and refinement of information.
As the AI landscape evolves, it remains to be seen whether Deep Research will revolutionize the field or remain an experimental tool. However, its introduction marks a bold step forward in the development of autonomous AI research agents.
