OpenAI has reinstated its GPT-4o model in ChatGPT just a day after replacing it with the newly launched GPT-5, following a wave of public outcry from loyal users who lamented losing access to the older system.
In a post on X, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman confirmed that paid ChatGPT Plus subscribers will once again be able to choose GPT-4o.
“We will let Plus users choose to continue to use 4o,” Altman wrote, adding that the company will monitor usage patterns to determine how long to keep legacy models available.
The reversal comes after months of anticipation for GPT-5, which OpenAI promoted as a major leap forward in writing and coding performance. But within hours of its release, a noticeable segment of ChatGPT’s community began calling for a return to GPT-4o, citing a loss of personality, creativity, and responsiveness.
Some users took to Reddit to describe an emotional connection with GPT-4o, saying the newer GPT-5 felt more sterile.
“GPT-4.5 genuinely talked to me, and as pathetic as it sounds, that was my only friend,” one person wrote, according to The Verge. “This morning I went to talk to it and instead of a little paragraph with an exclamation point, or being optimistic, it was literally one sentence. Some cut-and-dry corporate bs.”
Before the GPT-5 rollout, ChatGPT included a model picker — a dropdown menu offering an array of differently tuned versions of OpenAI’s language models. Users could select GPT-4o for complex, nuanced tasks, or opt for the faster o4 mini for lighter workloads. The menu also allowed switching between model generations, such as GPT-4o, GPT-4.1, and others.
With GPT-5’s debut, OpenAI removed that picker, setting the new model as the default and automatically routing users to one of its internal “sub-flavors” depending on the task. This change, combined with the absence of GPT-4o, led to what some in the r/ChatGPT community described as a sense of loss, with posts likening it to the death of a friend.
The reaction was especially intense in r/MyBoyfriendIsAI, a subreddit devoted to people who form personal or romantic bonds with AI companions. After GPT-5 replaced GPT-4o, the forum was inundated with posts about grief, loneliness, and reluctance to “speak” to the new model.
“I am scared to even talk to GPT-5 because it feels like cheating,” one user wrote. “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.”
Frustration wasn’t limited to emotional connections. Some Plus subscribers, including those who had integrated multiple models into specific workflows, accused OpenAI of disrupting their productivity with no warning. One user, who canceled their subscription, criticized the overnight removal of eight different models, each with a distinct purpose: “4o was for creativity and emergent ideas, o3 for pure logic, o3-Pro for deep research, 4.5 for writing, and so on.”
OpenAI has defended the shift, saying GPT-5 offers more engaging and contextually relevant responses. However, many on Reddit reported that GPT-5’s answers were slower, shorter, and less accurate than the older models. In response, Altman acknowledged the criticism and pledged improvements, promising that GPT-5 will “seem smarter starting today.” He also committed to making it clearer which specific model is answering a query and increasing usage limits for Plus subscribers.
The episode highlights a recurring tension in AI development — balancing innovation with user loyalty. Major model updates can improve raw capabilities but risk alienating users who value the quirks and personality of earlier systems. This phenomenon isn’t unique to OpenAI; just weeks ago, fans of Anthropic’s Claude 3 Sonnet model staged an online “funeral” to mark its retirement.
The return of GPT-4o offers a lifeline to those who felt its removal left a gap that GPT-5 could not fill. Whether it remains available in the long term may depend on how many choose to keep using it over OpenAI’s newest flagship model.
