The OpenAI 12 Days of Shipmas event has officially begun, but instead of a celebration, it has sparked a wave of controversy across the developer community. Last week, when Sam Altman teased this massive product launch event, the hype was astronomical. We expected access to the legendary Sora model, the full release of o1 (Project Strawberry), and perhaps even a glimpse of GPT-4.5.
Then, Day 1 of the OpenAI 12 Days of Shipmas arrived. And instead of cheers, the internet is lighting up with fury.
Why? Because OpenAI just introduced a **$200/month subscription** called ChatGPT Pro, locking the best features behind a paywall that most independent developers simply can’t afford. Is this the future of AI, or has OpenAI officially lost touch with its user base? Here is my deep-dive analysis of the OpenAI 12 Days of Shipmas roadmap, the Day 1 controversy, and what we can expect for the remaining 11 days.
1. Day 1 of OpenAI 12 Days of Shipmas: The $200 Shock
The kick-off for the OpenAI 12 Days of Shipmas was supposed to be a gift to the community. Instead, we got a bill. OpenAI launched ChatGPT Pro, a high-tier subscription priced at $200 per month. This is 10x the cost of the standard Plus plan, creating a massive divide in the user base.
What Do You Get for $200?
- Unlimited o1-Pro Mode: Access to the “reasoning” model that thinks for minutes before answering. This version uses significantly more compute than the standard o1-preview.
- Sora Video Generation: The text-to-video model we’ve been waiting for is finally here, but only for Pro users.
- Advanced Voice Mode: Unlimited usage of the emotive, real-time voice assistant.
The Controversy: Developers feel betrayed. The “o1-preview” we were testing for months was essentially a beta for this Pro tier. Now that it’s good, it’s locked away. As one Reddit user put it regarding the OpenAI 12 Days of Shipmas launch: “OpenAI just pulled the ladder up behind them.”
2. The Rumored Roadmap: Days 2-12
If Day 1 was the “Cash Grab,” what can we expect from the rest of the OpenAI 12 Days of Shipmas? Based on leaks from the API documentation and GitHub commits, here is what we predict for the coming days:
Day 2: Reinforcement Fine-Tuning (RFT)
Rumors suggest OpenAI will launch a self-serve platform for Reinforcement Fine-Tuning. This allows companies to train smaller models (like GPT-4o-mini) to reason like o1 on specific tasks (e.g., legal analysis or medical coding).
Day 3: Sora for Everyone (Limited)
While Pro users get unlimited Sora, leaks indicate a “Turbo” version of Sora might come to ChatGPT Plus users (limited to 5 videos/day) later in the OpenAI 12 Days of Shipmas. This is OpenAI’s answer to Runway Gen-3 and Kling.
Day 4: Canvas 2.0
The “Canvas” interface (competitor to Cline and Cursor) is expected to get a massive update. We expect multi-file editing and terminal access, finally making ChatGPT a real IDE replacement.
Day 12: The Big One (o3 or GPT-4.5?)
Sam Altman teased “big things.” The finale of the OpenAI 12 Days of Shipmas is widely expected to be the full public release of OpenAI o3, the next-generation reasoning model that reportedly scores 90%+ on the ARC-AGI benchmark. This is the model that justifies the $157 Billion valuation.
3. The “DeepSeek” Factor
Why is the OpenAI 12 Days of Shipmas happening now? Because they are scared. As I wrote yesterday, DeepSeek V3.2 just dropped, and it matches GPT-4o performance for 1/10th the price.
OpenAI knows they can’t compete on “cheap intelligence” anymore. The Chinese labs have won that race. So, OpenAI is pivoting to “Premium Intelligence” ($200/month) and “Agentic Workflows” (Operator). The OpenAI 12 Days of Shipmas is their attempt to reassert dominance before 2026.
4. Is ChatGPT Pro Worth It? (Deep Analysis)
I spent $200 this morning so you don’t have to. Here is my honest review of the “Pro” tier launched during the OpenAI 12 Days of Shipmas.
For Developers: No.
If you are a coder, you are better off using Cursor + Claude 3.5 Sonnet or the Cline + DeepSeek stack I recommended. The “o1-Pro” mode is smarter at complex algorithms, but it is too slow for the “Edit-Run-Debug” loop. Waiting 60 seconds for a CSS fix is painful.
For Researchers/Data Scientists: Yes.
If your job involves analyzing 100-page PDFs or solving novel math problems, o1-Pro is a godsend. It solved a complex data migration script in one shot that GPT-4o failed at 5 times. If it saves you 2 hours a month, it pays for itself.
5. The Operator Leak: Is It Coming?
The biggest missing piece of the OpenAI 12 Days of Shipmas is “Operator,” the agent that controls your computer. Leaks say it is coming in January 2026, but there is a chance OpenAI surprises us on Day 12.
If Operator drops during this event, it changes everything. It would instantly make the $200 subscription a requirement for every enterprise employee. Until then, it’s just a very expensive chatbot.
Verdict: Hype vs. Reality
The OpenAI 12 Days of Shipmas is a marketing masterclass, but Day 1 has alienated the hobbyist developers who built OpenAI’s ecosystem. By pushing the best tech into the “Pro” tier, OpenAI is signaling that they are now an Enterprise software company, not a consumer startup.
My advice? Wait until Day 12. Don’t upgrade to Pro yet. Let’s see if the rest of the OpenAI 12 Days of Shipmas releases justify the price tag.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
What is the OpenAI 12 Days of Shipmas?
The OpenAI 12 Days of Shipmas is a product launch event by OpenAI, running from December 5 to December 20, 2025. They plan to release a new feature or model every weekday, starting with ChatGPT Pro.
How much is ChatGPT Pro?
The new ChatGPT Pro tier announced during the OpenAI 12 Days of Shipmas costs $200 per month. It includes unlimited access to o1-Pro, Sora video generation, and priority compute.
Is Sora available now?
Yes, but currently only for ChatGPT Pro subscribers ($200/mo). A limited version is rumored to come to Plus users later in the OpenAI 12 Days of Shipmas event.
What is the difference between o1 and o1-Pro?
o1-Pro uses significantly more “test-time compute” (thinking time) to verify its answers. It creates a longer, more detailed Chain of Thought, resulting in higher accuracy on math and coding benchmarks compared to the standard model released before the OpenAI 12 Days of Shipmas.
