OpenAI announced plans to retire several models from its ChatGPT chatbot next month, including the popular GPT-4o. The company listed GPT-4o, GPT-4.1, GPT-4.1 mini, and OpenAI o4-mini for retirement from ChatGPT. It had previously announced the removal of GPT-5 Instant and GPT-5 Thinking as well.
GPT-4o, launched in May 2024, gained popularity among some paid users for its warm conversational style. In August 2024, OpenAI briefly disabled access to GPT-4o after launching GPT-5, prompting backlash. The company quickly restored access for paid users. CEO Sam Altman then posted on X, pledging to give “plenty of notice” if OpenAI ever decided to retire it.
In a blog post published Thursday, OpenAI acknowledged the decision’s impact. “We know that losing access to GPT‑4o will feel frustrating for some users, and we didn’t make this decision lightly,” the company stated. “Retiring models is never easy, but it allows us to focus on improving the models most people use today.”
OpenAI reported that only 0.1% of users select GPT-4o daily, while the vast majority use GPT-5.2. Recent improvements in model personality, customization, and creative ideation have prepared the company to retire GPT-4o, according to the blog post. No changes will affect OpenAI’s application programming interface.
Sam Altman, OpenAI CEO, spoke during a media tour of the Stargate data center in Abilene, Texas, on September 23, 2025. Stargate represents a collaboration between OpenAI, Oracle, and SoftBank, with promotional support from President Donald Trump, aimed at building data centers and other AI infrastructure across the U.S.
