- OpenAI says it will soon retire the GPT-4o model, along with several others
- GPT-4o has a small but passionate user base that is unhappy with the move
- OpenAI believes that GPT-5.2 adds many features that are popular in GPT-4o
In August, OpenAI officially retired a number of its AI models, including GPT-4o. This was met with swift backlash, forcing OpenAI to reset the model; However, the time has finally come, as GPT-4o is once again being sidelined.
In an announcement on the company’s blog, OpenAI explained that “on February 13, 2026… we will be retiring GPT-4o, GPT-4.1, GPT-4.1 mini, and OpenAI o4-mini from ChatGPT.”
The company added that some “special context” was needed regarding GPT-4o and noted that after the release of GPT-5 and the initial withdrawal of GPT-4o, OpenAI received “clear feedback” from users. This revealed that many customers felt they “needed more time to transition key use cases, such as creative ideation, and preferred the conversational style and warmth of GPT-4o.”
However, with the release of GPT-5.1 and GPT-5.2, OpenAI believes it has addressed most of those concerns. What’s more, the company says that only 0.1% of users “still choose GPT-4o every day,” adding that it knows that removing GPT-4o will be “frustrating” and that “we do not make this decision lightly.” However, he says that doing so “allows us to focus on improving the models that most people use today.”
The end of the road
Unsurprisingly, given the reaction when GPT-4o was retired in August, the latest announcement has not been well received by a section of ChatGPT users.
Writing on Reddit, for example, user ClankerCore said: “It’s time to go to change.org and start filling out petitions again. Last time we brought 4o. We’re bringing them back.” For another paid ChatGPT subscriber, the decision was simple: “it’s time to cancel.”
In a separate thread, another user explained exactly why they wanted to continue using GPT-4o: “Many users (myself included) feel that GPT-4o offered something unique, not just in performance, but also in personality, warmth, and consistency. Some of us have built long-term creative projects, emotional support routines, or studio workflows with this specific model. Losing it completely, without even a fallback or optional legacy mode, feels abrupt and deeply disappointing.”
Still, this seems unlikely to change OpenAI’s mind. In the aforementioned blog post, the company said that “the vast majority of usage has shifted to GPT-5.2,” adding that this model has built-in functions for “basic styles and tones like Friendly, and controls for things like warmth and excitement.” It seems, therefore, that OpenAI is happy that GPT-5.2 meets the standards set by GPT-4o and serves as a satisfactory replacement.
Whether that will be enough to placate GPT-4o’s small but passionate user base remains to be seen. But with OpenAI apparently happy for GPT-5.2 to address its users’ concerns, it seems like this really is the end of the road for GPT-4o.
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