I’m currently subscribed to ChatGPT’s paid tier and also have access to Microsoft’s AI tools through a work account. In my experience, Microsoft’s assistant tends to respond very quickly for general tasks, but it often shuts down mid-reply when a question drifts into areas like public policy, legal issues, or historical crime data. The response usually disappears and I get a generic refusal instead.

ChatGPT, on the other hand, usually allows those same questions, but it can feel noticeably slower or less responsive depending on the task. I’m not looking for something free — I care more about speed, reasoning depth, and the ability to discuss controversial or complex subjects without constant hard stops.

Are there other AI services or models worth looking into that strike a better balance between responsiveness and openness?