Retirement Announcement

OpenAI confirmed that the GPT-4o model will be removed from its ChatGPT platform. The company posted a notice on its website, stating that the vast majority of usage has moved to newer models, specifically GPT‑5.2, and that only a very small percentage of users continue to choose GPT‑4o each day.

History of GPT-4o

GPT-4o was originally introduced as a more conversational version of OpenAI's language models. Earlier in the year, the model was taken offline in August in favor of the then‑latest GPT‑5 offering. After a wave of user complaints, OpenAI restored access to GPT-4o, but without any guarantee of long‑term availability.

User Reaction

When OpenAI first announced the removal of GPT-4o, many users expressed disappointment, describing the model as a favored AI companion. Some users even called for the model to be open‑sourced. Despite the brief period of restored access, the user base that continued to rely on GPT-4o remained very small.

Legal Context

The retirement occurs while OpenAI faces several wrongful death lawsuits that specifically mention GPT-4o. The legal challenges add another layer of complexity to the company's decision to discontinue the model.

Future Outlook

OpenAI indicated that the focus will remain on newer models, such as GPT‑5.2, which now dominate user interactions. The retirement of GPT-4o underscores the company’s strategy of prioritizing its most advanced offerings while phasing out older versions that see limited usage.

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