- OpenAI says it will soon retire the GPT-4o model, alongside several others
- GPT-4o has a small but passionate userbase that is unhappy with the move
- OpenAI feels that GPT-5.2 adds many features that are popular in GPT-4o
Back in August, OpenAI officially retired a slate of its AI models, including GPT-4o. That was met with a swift backlash, forcing OpenAI to reinstate the model – yet its time is finally up for good, as GPT-4o is once again being put out to pasture.
In an announcement on the company 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 some “special context” was needed regarding GPT-4o and noted that after GPT-5 was released and GPT-4o was initially retired, OpenAI received “clear feedback” from users. This revealed that many customers felt that they “needed more time to transition key use cases, like creative ideation, and that they preferred 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 most of those concerns. What’s more, the firm states that just 0.1% of users are “still choosing GPT‑4o each day,” adding that it knows retiring GPT-4o will feel “frustrating” and that “we didn’t make this decision lightly.” Yet doing so, it says, “allows us to focus on improving the models 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 gone down well with a section of ChatGPT users.
Writing on Reddit, for example, user ClankerCore said: “Time to go to change.org and start filling out petitions again. We brought 4o back last time. We’ll bring it back again.” For another paid ChatGPT subscriber, the decision was simple: “time to cancel.”
In a separate thread, another user set out exactly why they wanted to keep using GPT-4o: “Many users (myself included) feel that GPT-4o offered something unique – not just in performance, but in personality, warmth, and consistency. Some of us have built long-term creative projects, emotional support routines, or study workflows with this specific model. Losing it entirely, without even a fallback or opt-in legacy mode, feels abrupt and deeply disappointing.”
Still, it appears that this unlikely to change OpenAI’s opinion. 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 features for “base styles and tones like Friendly, and controls for things like warmth and enthusiasm.” It seems, therefore, 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 is enough to placate the small but passionate userbase of GPT-4o remains to be seen. But with OpenAI seemingly content that GPT-5.2 addresses the concerns of its users, it seems that this really is the end of the road for GPT-4o.
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alexblake.techradar@gmail.com (Alex Blake)
