OpenAI grants 100,000 researchers free access to frontier models, accelerating discovery

OpenAI launched the ChatGPT for Academic Researchers program to provide free access to advanced AI models through 2027.

The initiative targets 100,000 scientists, mathematicians, and engineers to accelerate scientific breakthroughs.

Academics will receive frontier models including GPT-5.6 Sol Pro to remove financial barriers to research.

The rollout begins with 10,000 researchers in the summer of 2026.

OpenAI will expand the program to the full 100,000 participants over the following year.

Participants receive workspaces featuring business-grade privacy and security protocols.

OpenAI will not use participant data for model training by default.