OpenAI's developer channel announced that the Ultrafast tier of GPT-6.1 Sol is now available for API, Codex, and ChatGPT Work, with speeds reaching up to 8 times that of the standard Sol tier, and intelligence levels approaching Astra.

The API pricing is $12 per million input tokens and $60 per million output tokens, which the company states is 1.2 times the cost of Astra. The standard tier remains at $2 for input, $0.10 for cached input, and $10 for output, approximately one-fifth of Astra's standard price. The Ultrafast tier is aimed at troubleshooting, in-app agent navigation, and real-time experiences billed by the second.

Access to Codex and ChatGPT Work is limited to Pro 500, eligible pay-as-you-go enterprise plans, and credit-based educational plans. Enterprise administrators must enable permissions first. This tier covers all supported regions and supports data residency in the US and EU. The same batch also added EU data residency for GPT-6.1 Sol Fast and GPT-6 Luna Fast.

This is the fourth day of changes experienced over the past 28 days. OpenAI employees stated that the shift to control has been changed to instant response, with the model reacting faster to mid-course adjustments, allowing users to change direction in real-time and reducing the model's idle time on old instructions. Two changes were implemented together.

GPT-6.1 Sol was launched on Developer Day, September 29, first entering the Plus, Pro, Business, Enterprise, and Edu work versions and Codex, with regular chat not available at that time. The API model name is gpt-6.1-sol. Previously, Astra's Ultrafast tier had been available in Codex at a maximum of 8 times token output, approximately 6 times on the API side, with subscription limits consuming at 8 times and external credits billed at 6 times. The company clarified that the multiplier measures token output speed, not the overall task completion time.

The buyers are agents and programming users who need to change direction in real-time, while the sellers are OpenAI's high-speed inference tiers. The event is driven by the speed tier being made available for Sol, not a new model release. Funding shifts from $2 input in the standard tier to $12 input and $60 output. Beneficiaries include Pro 500 and enterprises that cannot wait for standard speeds, while other APIs that only sell at standard prices but are compared in real-time scenarios are under pressure. Tool calls and testing times are not included in this 8 times.

Source: Public Information