‘Time to cancel’: OpenAI sparks outrage by abandoning GPT-4o model again as it says ‘we didn’t make this decision lightly’
- OpenAI says it will soon retire the GPT-4o model, along with a few others
- GPT-4o has a small but passionate user base that is not happy with the move
- OpenAI feels that GPT-5.2 adds many popular features to GPT-4o
Back in August, OpenAI officially retired the slate of its AI models, including GPT-4o. That was met with a swift backlash, forcing OpenAI to return the model – however its time is right, now that GPT-4o has been put out to pasture again.
In an announcement on the company’s blog, OpenAI explained that “on February 13, 2026 … we will retire GPT-4o, GPT-4.1, GPT-4.1 mini, and OpenAI o4-mini from ChatGPT.”
The company added that a “special context” was needed regarding GPT-4o and noted that after GPT-5 was released and GPT-4o was retired, OpenAI received “clear feedback” from users. This revealed that many customers felt that they “need more time to change key usage situations, such as creative thinking, and that they prefer the GPT-4o’s conversational style and warmth.”
However, with the release of GPT-5.1 and GPT-5.2, OpenAI feels that it has addressed many of those concerns. In addition, the company says that only 0.1% of users “still choose GPT-4o each day,” adding that it knows that if GPT-4o is retired it will feel “frustrated” and that “we did not make this decision lightly.” But doing so, it says, “allows us to focus on improving the models that most people use today.”
The end of the road
Unsurprisingly, given the reaction to GPT-4o’s retirement in August, the latest announcement did not go down well with ChatGPT’s user base.
Writing on Reddit, for example, user ClankerCore said: “Time to get on change.org and start filling out petitions again. We brought back 4o last time. We’ll be back.” For one paid ChatGPT subscriber, the decision was simple: “time to cancel.”
In another thread, another user put it perfectly why they want to continue using the GPT-4o: “Many users (myself included) feel that the GPT-4o offered something different – not just in performance, but in personality, warmth, and consistency. Some of us have built long-term creative projects, emotional support processes, or workflows with this particular model. It’s very disappointing.”
However, it seems that this will not change the opinion of OpenAI. In the aforementioned blog post, the company said that “most uses have shifted to GPT-5.2,” adding that the model has built-in features for “basic styles and tones like Friendly, as well as controls for things like warmth and enthusiasm.” Therefore, it seems that OpenAI is happy that GPT-5.2 meets the standards set by GPT-4o and that it will serve as a satisfactory replacement.
Whether that’s enough to placate the GPT-4o’s small but passionate user base remains to be seen. But with OpenAI seemingly addressing the concerns of its users with GPT-5.2 content, it appears that this is the end of the road for GPT-4o.
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