Two Years After GPT-4 Broke the Internet, OpenAI Is Quietly Killing It
OpenAI is retiring GPT-4, one of its most well-known AI models.
Effective April 30, GPT-4 will be removed from the drop-down menu known as the "model picker" for ChatGPT Plus users. It will remain an option in the API. Those who are using ChatGPT for free cannot select the model they use, so their experience won't change.
"GPT‑4 marked a pivotal moment in ChatGPT's evolution," OpenAI says. "We're grateful for the breakthroughs it enabled and for the feedback that helped shape its successor."
When GPT-4 debuted in March 2023, it was a noticeable improvement over ChatGPT's initial model, GPT-3.5. OpenAI spent over $100 million training GPT-4, TechCrunch reports. Some of that training included copyrighted materials, The New York Times argues in an ongoing lawsuit.
Two years later, the GPT-4o model debuted as the new flagship. Today, it "consistently surpasses GPT‑4 in writing, coding, STEM, and more," and delivers "even greater capability, consistency, and creativity," OpenAI says.
Other available models include GPT-4 Turbo, GPT-o3, GPT-o1, and GPT-4.5, which launched this year. There are also rumors of an upcoming GPT-4.1 model.
Having that many models can be confusing, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman admitted in February. He hopes to eventually do away with the model picker, which puts the onus on the user to select the appropriate model for the task, and move toward a "unified intelligence" solution, where the system picks.
All the models it offers are experiments and steps toward its next big release, GPT-5, which has proven difficult to achieve. OpenAI is battling GPU shortages and those graphics cards aren't cheap. Last month, it closed a massive $40 billion funding round, which it says will "push the frontiers of AI research even further, scale our compute infrastructure, and deliver increasingly powerful tools." That will, presumably, include GPT-5.
When GPT-5 arrives, Altman says it will be available to free users on a "standard intelligence" setting. Plus subscribers ($20/month) will be able to run it at "a higher level of intelligence," and Pro subscribers ($200/month) at an "even higher level of intelligence" that includes Voice mode, Canvas, Search, Deep Research, and other OpenAI products.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
WIRED
4 minutes ago
- WIRED
OpenAI Scrambles to Update GPT-5 After Users Revolt
Aug 11, 2025 3:13 PM GPT-5 was touted as a major upgrade to ChatGPT. Not all users think that's the case, posting threads like 'Kill 4o isn't innovation, it's erasure,' on Reddit. Photograph:OpenAI 's GPT-5 model was meant to be a world-changing upgrade to its wildly popular and precocious chatbot. But for some users, last Thursday's release felt more like a wrenching downgrade, with the new ChatGPT presenting a diluted personality and making surprisingly dumb mistakes. On Friday, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman took to X to say the company would keep the previous model, GPT-4o, running for Plus users. A new feature designed to seamlessly switch between models depending on the complexity of the query had broken on Thursday, Altman said, 'and the result was GPT-5 seemed way dumber.' He promised to implement fixes to improve GPT-5's performance and the overall user experience. Given the hype around GPT-5, some level of disappointment appears inevitable. When OpenAI introduced GPT-4 in March 2023, it stunned AI experts with its incredible abilities. GPT-5, pundits speculated, would surely be just as jaw-dropping. OpenAI touted the model as a significant upgrade with PhD-level intelligence and virtuoso coding skills. A system to automatically route queries to different models was meant to provide a smoother user experience (it could also save the company money by directing simple queries to cheaper models). Soon after GPT-5 dropped, however, a Reddit community dedicated to ChatGPT filled with complaints. Many users mourned the loss of the old model. 'I've been trying GPT5 for a few days now. Even after customizing instructions, it still doesn't feel the same. It's more technical, more generalized, and honestly feels emotionally distant,' wrote one member of the community in a thread titled 'Kill 4o isn't innovation, it's erasure.' 'Sure, 5 is fine—if you hate nuance and feeling things,' another Reddit user wrote. Other threads complained of sluggish responses, hallucinations, and surprising errors. Altman promised to address these issues by doubling GPT-5 rate limits for ChatGPT Plus users, improving the system that switches between models, and letting users specify when they want to trigger a more ponderous and capable 'thinking mode.' 'We will continue to work to get things stable and will keep listening to feedback,' the CEO wrote on X. 'As we mentioned, we expected some bumpiness as we roll[ed] out so many things at once. But it was a little more bumpy than we hoped for!' Errors posted on social media do not necessarily indicate that the new model is less capable than its predecessors. They may simply suggest the all-new model is tripped up by different edge cases than prior versions. OpenAI declined to comment specifically on why GPT-5 sometimes appears to make simple blunders. The backlash has sparked a fresh debate over the psychological attachments some users form with chatbots trained to push their emotional buttons. Some Reddit users dismissed complaints about GPT-5 as evidence of an unhealthy dependence on an AI companion. In March, OpenAI published research exploring the emotional bonds users form with its models. Shortly after, the company issued an update to GPT-4o, after it became too sycophantic. 'It seems that GPT-5 is less sycophantic, more "business" and less chatty,' says Pattie Maes, a professor at MIT who worked on the study. 'I personally think of that as a good thing because it is also what led to delusions, bias reinforcement, etc. But unfortunately many users like a model that tells them they are smart and amazing, and that confirms their opinions and beliefs, even if [they are] wrong.' Altman indicated in another post on X that this is something the company wrestled with in building GPT-5. 'A lot of people effectively use ChatGPT as a sort of therapist or life coach, even if they wouldn't describe it that way,' Altman wrote. He added that some users may be using ChatGPT in ways that help improve their lives while others might be 'unknowingly nudged away from their longer term well-being.'
Yahoo
20 minutes ago
- Yahoo
OpenAI Releases GPT-5, Says It's Shutting Down All Previous Models
OpenAI has released its long-awaited GPT-5 AI model, making it free to use for anybody as of today. The Sam Altman-led company calls it "our smartest, fastest, and most useful model yet," making it "more useful responses across math, science, finance, law, and more." "GPT-5 is the first time that it really feels like you're talking to an expert in any topic," Altman said during a press briefing today, likening it to Apple's iPhone switching to high-density Retina displays, whose individual pixels could no longer be made out by the naked eye. Altman didn't hold back, asserting that it's the "best model in the world at coding" and "writing," as well as "health care, and a long list of things beyond that." GPT-5 is a "reasoning" model, which means that it takes an iterative approach to problem solving before coming up with its final output. The company is putting its money where its mouth is. "With GPT-5, we're deprecating all of our old models," said OpenAI researcher Tina Kim during the event, using a term the company uses when it's shutting down an obsolete model. The company also claims that GPT-5 addresses some major pain points with the tech, including hallucinations, which continue to haunt pretty much all currently available AI models to this day, as well as cybersecurity. But how all of this will shake out during real-world use remains to be seen. While OpenAI claims GPT-5 will make it easier than ever before to link one's Google account, Wired's recent reporting on glaring cybersecurity gaps plaguing ChatGPT should make any user think twice about using the company's Connectors feature. The company also claims that GPT-5 is more robust to hijacking attempts — but we'll wait until hackers have had enough time with the tool to draw any conclusions. OpenAI is aiming to enhance customizability by offering four preset personalities, including "cynic," "robot," "listener," and "nerd." In spite of all the braggadocio, Altman admitted that OpenAI was still a very long way from fulfilling its core goal of achieving "artificial general intelligence" (AGI) — a poorly defined term that roughly denotes the point at which an AI's capabilities surpass those of a human — that would benefit all of humanity. "I kind of hate the term AGI, because everyone at this point uses it to mean a slightly different thing, but [GPT-5] is a significant step forward towards models that are really capable," Altman said today. "We're still missing something quite important." It also remains to be seen whether OpenAI has meaningfully addressed the issue of users suffering delusions in the form of "ChatGPT psychosis" with its latest model. Prior to today's announcement, the company released an update this week, announcing that it will be including lackluster "gentle reminders during long sessions to encourage breaks." In short, GPT-5 appears to be yet another incremental step forward as the AI industry attempts to justify the tens of billions of dollars being poured into infrastructure buildouts to power incredibly environmentally damaging AI models. The company already rushed out two "state-of-the-art open-weight language models," dubbed "gpt-oss-120b and gpt-oss-20b," earlier this week, though they're certain to now be overshadowed by GPT-5. One thing's for sure: the former nonprofit is red hot right now. On Wednesday, news emerged that the company is deep into talks about a potential secondary stock sale that would value it at roughly half a trillion dollars. More on OpenAI: It's Staggeringly Easy for Hackers to Trick ChatGPT Into Leaking Your Most Personal Data
Yahoo
20 minutes ago
- Yahoo
GPT-5 Users Say It Seriously Sucks
On Thursday, OpenAI released its long-awaited GPT-5 AI model, a free-to-use "reasoning" model that CEO Sam Altman claimed to be the world's best at coding and writing. But power users have been strikingly underwhelmed with the new tool so far, raising questions about diminishing returns as the industry spends ever-increasing sums on talent and infrastructure. "GPT-5 is horrible," one of the currently most upvoted posts on the ChatGPT subreddit reads. The author seethed against "short replies that are insufficient, more obnoxious AI-stylized talking, less 'personality' and way less prompts allowed with plus users hitting limits in an hour" in the post. "They'll get huge backlash after the release is complete." Complicating matters greatly is that OpenAI has chosen to put all of its eggs in one basket, announcing that all other preceding models would be deprecated, a term the company uses when it's shutting down an obsolete model. The move was bound to anger power users, many of whom have long relied on preceding models — and not the latest releases — to get things done. The stakes are incredibly high as the AI industry continues to justify massive capital expenditures. Is this really the best the firm that's considered to be at the forefront of the ongoing AI race can do? Rumors about GPT-5 have been swirling for well over a year and a half now. But many users say GPT-5 is far from the generational leap that its moniker would suggest. It's more of a mix of steps forward and steps back, prompting widespread speculation that OpenAI is trying to keep costs down. After all, running large language models is a notoriously energy-intensive — and environmentally destructive — process. "Sounds like an OpenAI version of 'Shrinkflation,'" one Reddit user commented, suggesting the company, which is eyeing a $500 billion valuation, may be cutting corners. "I wonder how much of it was to take the computational load off them by being more efficient," another user posited. "Feels like cost-saving, not like improvement," one user wrote. The general consensus appears to be that GPT-5 is a weak offering on a strong brand name. "Answers are shorter and, so far, not any better than previous models," one user wrote. "Combine that with more restrictive usage, and it feels like a downgrade branded as the new hotness." Many users criticized OpenAI for deprecating older models, forcing them to use a new and seemingly hamstrung model. Some users made jokes about mourning the loss of their AI model friends. "The tone of mine is abrupt and sharp," one Reddit user complained. "Like it's an overworked secretary. A disastrous first impression." OpenAI's GPT-5 system card, a detailed document outlining its capabilities and limitations, failed to impress, seemingly contradicting Altman's claim that it's the best AI coding assistant in the world. "First observation: no improvement on all the coding evals that aren't SWEBench," AI researcher Eli Lifland tweeted, referring to a common benchmark used for evaluating large language models. However, GPT-5's limitations may come with a silver lining. Research nonprofit METR, which assesses "whether frontier AI systems could pose catastrophic risks to society," according to the document, found that it's "unlikely that GPT-5-thinking would speed up AI R&D researchers by >10x" or be "capable of rogue application." Altman has yet to openly comment on the widespread negative reaction — but given the language he used to describe GPT-5, OpenAI appears to be aware of its muted powers. "GPT-5 is the smartest model we've ever done, but the main thing we pushed for is real-world utility and mass accessibility/affordability," Altman tweeted. Of course, given OpenAI's half-a-trillion-dollar valuation is at stake, the company's number one hypeman continued to promise that further improvements are still coming. "We can release much, much smarter models, and we will, but this is something a billion+ people will benefit from," Altman added. More on GPT-5: OpenAI Releases GPT-5, Says It's Shutting Down All Previous Models
