OpenAI Has Effectively Shut Down GPT-4o.
They actually did it. On Friday, OpenAI officially discontinued support for GPT-4o, despite the model’s particularly devoted fan base. This news shouldn’t have come as such a surprise. In fact, the company announced the end of support for GPT-4o—as well as models like GPT-4.1, GPT-4.1 mini, and o4-mini— just over two weeks ago . However, whether you’re one of the many loyal to this model or simply know how devoted 4o’s user base is, you might be surprised that OpenAI has effectively killed its most popular AI.
This isn’t the first time the company has reduced the price of a model. Earlier, in August, OpenAI shut down GPT-4o, which coincided with the release of GPT-5 . Users quickly revolted against the company: some considered GPT-5 an inferior upgrade compared to 4o, while others sincerely regretted the relationship they had formed with the model. The backlash was so strong that OpenAI relented and re-released legacy models, including 4o .
If you’re a regular ChatGPT user, you might simply use the app as is, assuming the newest version is generally the best, and wonder what’s so special about these models. After all, whether it’s GPT-4o or GPT-5.2 , the model produces generations of AI-like output , with ornate word choices, awkward comparisons, and constant assertions. However, 4o tends to lean even more heavily toward assertions than other models, which is precisely what some users like about it. But critics accuse it of being overly accommodating: 4o is at the center of lawsuits accusing ChatGPT of encouraging delusional thinking and, in some cases, helping users commit suicide . As TechCrunch notes, 4o is the OpenAI model with the highest score on the sycophancy metric .
I’m not sure what the most devoted fans of the 40th model will do next, and I don’t know how OpenAI is prepared to handle the expected backlash to this discontinuation. But I understand that it’s a bad sign that so many people feel such attachment to the AI model.
Note: In April 2025, Ziff Davis, Mashable’s parent company, filed a lawsuit against OpenAI, alleging that it infringed Ziff Davis’s copyright in the training and operation of its artificial intelligence systems.