On Tuesday, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman announced that GPT-4o has returned to ChatGPT following intense user backlash over its removal during last week’s GPT5 launch. The AI model now appears in the model picker for all paid ChatGPT users by default (including ChatGPT Plus accounts), marking a swift reversal after thousands of users complained about losing access to their preferred models, ArsTechnica reported.
The return of GPT-4o comes after what Altman described as OpenAI underestimating “how much some of the things that people like in GPT-4o matter to them.” In an attempt to simplify its offerings, OpenAI had initially removed all previous AI models from ChatGPT when GPT-5 launched on August 7, forcing users to adopt the new model without warning.
The move sparked one of the most vocal user revolts in ChatGPT’s history, with a Reddit thread titled: “GPT-5 is horrible” gathering over 2,000 comments within days.
Along with bringing back GPT-4o, OpenAI made several other changes to address user concerns. Rate limits for GPT-5 Thinking mode increased from 200 to 3,000 messages per week, with additional capacity available through “GPT-5 Thinking mini” after reaching that limit.
Engadget reported: ChatGPT will now allow you to choose between several GPT-5 variants and previous OpenAI models. In a post on X, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has revealed that the chatbot’s model picker now comes with three GPT choices: Auto, Fast and Thinking.
He said most “will want Auto,” which is most likely the standard version that’s already a reasoning model. But users will be able to choose the fast-responding version or the Thinking version that implies it delivers longer, more comprehensive answers if they want to. GPT-4o is also back in the model picker for all paying users by default.
OpenAI removed GPT-4o with the launch of GPT-5: The company significantly simplified ChatGPT because GPT-5 was supposed to offer a unified experience for users. However, its decision was met by criticism from people who preferred GPT-4o’s personality better, especially since it didn’t give them notice that it was deprecating older models.
TechCrunch reported: When OpenAI launched GPT-5 last week, the company said the model would simplify the ChatGPT experience. OpenAI hoped GPT-5 would act as a sort of “one size fits all” AI model with a router that would automatically decide how to best answer user questions.
The company said this unified approach would eliminate the need for users to navigate the model picker — a long, complicated menu of AI options that OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has publicly says he hates.
But it looks like GPT-5 is not the unified AI model OpenAI hoped it would be.
Altman said in a post on X Tuesday that the company introduced new “Auto,” “Fast,” and “Thinking” settings for GPT-5 that all ChatGPT users can select for the model picker. The auto setting seems to work like GPT-5’s model router that OpenAI initially announced; however, the company is also giving users options to circumnavigate it, allowing them to access fast and slow responding AI models directly.”