OpenAI pauses ChatGPT Pro sign-ups amid Astra demand

OpenAI has disabled new sign-ups for the $200-per-month ChatGPT Pro plan because demand for Astra is straining its infrastructure. TechCrunch (Sarah Perez, 10 September 2026) reported the move from posts on X by OpenAI product leader Thibault (Tibo) Sottiaux, who leads Codex and ChatGPT.

This is a company-stated capacity action on new Pro sign-ups. It is not a model recall, not a price change, and not a shutdown of existing Pro accounts.

Sottiaux said the Pro plan puts the most strain on OpenAI's systems, which is why that tier is the one being closed to newcomers. "We wanted to take the smallest step that allows us to continue giving the broadest access possible," he wrote. API access, the lower-cost Go plan, and Plus remain available.

Earlier in the week he warned that Astra demand was "really unprecedented" and that pausing new Pro subscriptions might be needed to keep service for existing users. OpenAI raised Codex usage limits as recently as last month, which points to a recent squeeze rather than a long-running cap.

Astra launched on 3 September 2026 and has been rolling out across Pro, Plus, Enterprise, and Business. OpenAI has framed it as a major leap and the start of an "AGI era," which helped stoke the rush. Techpresso already covered the ARC-AGI harness scores from that launch week.

OpenAI has not said how long the pause will last, or how many people are signing up each day. The strain is the company's own description, not a third-party measurement of cluster load.

Related OpenAI and lab tape includes ChatGPT Ads at a $1 billion run rate and Anthropic's enterprise retention change. Same-week deal news sits in Bending Spoons' $1.36 billion Miro agreement.

If you already pay for Pro, treat existing access as the priority OpenAI said it is protecting. If you still need a new $200 seat, stay on Plus, Go, or the API until Sottiaux reopens Pro sign-ups, and do not staff a plan that assumes a reopen date.