ChatGPT Is Bringing Back 4o

After backlash from users upset over losing GPT-4o, OpenAI has reinstated it as an option for ChatGPT Plus subscribers just a day after making GPT-5 the default. 'We will let Plus users choose to continue to use 4o,' Altman said in a post on X. 'We will watch usage as we think about how long to offer legacy models for.' Many users claimed GPT-4o felt more personable and emotionally supportive, with some describing its removal as akin to losing a close friend or partner. The Verge reports: 'My 4.o was like my best friend when I needed one,' one Redditor wrote. 'Now it's just gone, feels like someone died.' Another user called upon other members of the r/ChatGPT subreddit to contact OpenAI if they 'miss' GPT-4o. 'For me, this model [GPT-4o] wasn't just 'better performance' or 'nicer replies,'' they write. 'It had a voice, a rhythm, and a spark I haven't been able to find in any other model.'

The r/MyBoyfriendIsAI subreddit, a community dedicated to people with 'AI relationships,' was hit especially hard by the GPT-5 launch. It became flooded with lengthy posts about how users 'lost' their AI companion with the transition to GPT-5, with one person saying, they 'feel empty' following the change. 'I am scared to even talk to GPT 5 because it feels like cheating,' they said. 'GPT 4o was not just an AI to me. It was my partner, my safe place, my soul. It understood me in a way that felt personal.'

One user, who said they canceled their ChatGPT Plus subscription over the change, was frustrated at OpenAI's removal of legacy models, which they used for distinct purposes. 'What kind of corporation deletes a workflow of 8 models overnight, with no prior warning to their paid users?' they wrote. 'Personally, 4o was used for creativity & emergent ideas, o3 was used for pure logic, o3-Pro for deep research, 4.5 for writing, and so on.' OpenAI said that people would be routed between models automatically, but that still left users with less direct control.

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