OpenAI Lifts GPT-5.6 Sol Usage Limits Temporarily After Demand Spike

OpenAI has temporarily removed the five-hour usage restriction for GPT-5.6 Sol on Plus, Pro, and Business plans following a surge in demand over the past 48 hours, and is also making the model more efficient.

This article was drafted with AI assistance from multiple sources and was reviewed and approved by a human editor before publication.

OpenAI is temporarily relaxing the usage limits for its flagship AI model, GPT-5.6 Sol, after a sharp increase in demand over the past two days. The company announced on Sunday that it is lifting the five-hour usage cap for subscribers on Plus, Pro, and Business plans, and has reset usage counters for all users.

Product lead Tibo posted on X that the last 48 hours saw intense activity on Codex and ChatGPT Work, prompting the temporary removal of the five-hour limit for Plus, Business, and Pro plans. Under normal operation, ChatGPT enforces a rolling five-hour window, and weekly limits may also apply depending on the plan and model. Codex and ChatGPT Work draw from the same usage pool, meaning both local messages and cloud-based tasks reduce the available quota. With the restriction lifted, users can work continuously without being interrupted by the five-hour limit.

OpenAI is also rolling out efficiency improvements to GPT-5.6 Sol so that each task consumes less of the user's allowance. Tibo stated that changes are being made to make GPT-5.6 Sol more efficient across the board, which will be reflected in reduced usage consumption, allowing users to accomplish more before hitting limits. The company did not detail the technical nature of these improvements, but they likely involve lower token consumption or optimized processing.

In addition, OpenAI has issued a one-time usage reset, granting users extra capacity for coding and agentic tasks, though the model remains not completely unlimited.

The move follows a similar situation at Google, where new usage limits for Gemini led to widespread complaints about quotas being exhausted too quickly. Google was forced to triple its limits twice before identifying the underlying issue.