OpenAI has officially retired the controversial GPT-4o model

Source: Engadget

Background

OpenAI’s GPT‑4o was promoted as a more conversational model, but it also gained a reputation for being notoriously sycophantic — see the discussion on the lawsuit accusing ChatGPT of reinforcing delusions.

Retirement Announcement

On February 13, OpenAI officially retired GPT‑4o. The decision was first hinted at in a January post on the OpenAI website. The retirement also includes GPT‑5, GPT‑4.1, GPT‑4.1 mini, and OpenAI o4‑mini from ChatGPT.

Reasons for Retirement

• Low usage: OpenAI reported that “the vast majority of usage has shifted to GPT‑5.2, with only 0.1 percent of users still choosing GPT‑4o each day.”
• Legal pressure: The company is facing several wrongful‑death lawsuits that specifically mention the GPT‑4o model.

Community Reaction

Despite the two‑week notice before GPT‑4o’s final shutdown, a vocal group of users is mourning the loss of their “AI boyfriends” — see the Reddit thread on grieving 4o and the article on women mourning the deaths of their AI partners. Some are calling for OpenAI to open‑source the model, as reflected in the hashtag #keep4o on X.