OpenAI открывает 100 000 учёным бесплатный доступ к продвинутым моделям ChatGPT

OpenAI launched the ChatGPT for Academic Researchers program on July 30, 2026, giving 100,000 academic researchers free access to its most advanced ChatGPT models — to accelerate scientific research, collaboration, and discovery.

What OpenAI announced

OpenAI is giving 100,000 academic researchers free access to its top ChatGPT models — the company announced this on its corporate blog on July 30, 2026. This is specifically about the most advanced models in the lineup, not a stripped-down free version, and the stated goal is to accelerate research work, cooperation between teams, and the process of scientific discovery itself. The exact terms of participation, selection criteria, and the program's duration were not detailed in the announcement — the emphasis is on scale: 100,000 free access slots.

• Program — ChatGPT for Academic Researchers
• Reach — 100,000 academic researchers
• Cost — free access
• What's included — the most advanced ChatGPT models
• Stated goal — accelerating research, collaboration, and discovery
• Source — OpenAI blog, July 30, 2026

Who gets free access

Free access is designed for 100,000 academic researchers — the ChatGPT for Academic Researchers program was built specifically for them. OpenAI positions it as a working tool for science: access opens up the flagship ChatGPT models, not a limited basic tier. The company sets the "access for science" format apart from its corporate and consumer plans, underscoring that academic work is an independent priority for it.

"We are opening up free access to our most advanced ChatGPT models for 100,000 academic researchers to accelerate scientific research, collaboration, and discovery,"

OpenAI's blog states.

Why this matters to researchers

Powerful language models take over a chunk of the routine work that would otherwise take scientists weeks. Researchers use ChatGPT for literature reviews, formulating and testing hypotheses, writing code for data analysis, processing tables, and drafting papers and grant applications. Paid access to top models costs money, so 100,000 free slots remove the price barrier for those whose lab doesn't have a budget for subscriptions. This is especially noticeable for graduate students and small groups at universities without major funding, where access to paid AI tools is usually limited.

That said, ChatGPT doesn't replace the researcher: models can invent references and facts, so conclusions and citations still need to be checked against primary sources. Free access to powerful models speeds up drafting and supporting work — it doesn't make scientific decisions for a person.

Why OpenAI is investing in science

OpenAI is cementing its presence in the academic world — and this is part of a broader trend. AI labs are increasingly moving into science, giving researchers access to models and computing resources. For the company, 100,000 researchers is simultaneously a distribution channel, a reputational asset, and a source of demanding feedback on where the models are genuinely useful and where they still get things wrong.

At the same time, it's a competitive move: other major model developers are also competing for access to the academic audience, offering researchers free or discounted rates. Science is also a convenient showcase: if the models speed up real research, that's a strong argument in the debates about AI's benefits that OpenAI is having with regulators and society.

What this means

OpenAI is betting on science as a field for applying AI: 100,000 free access slots to advanced ChatGPT models lower the barrier to entry for researchers and strengthen the company's position in academia amid competition among AI labs for scientists. For researchers, this is a chance to try top models for free on real tasks, and for the industry, it's a signal that science is becoming a key battleground for AI users.