OpenAI brings GPT-4o back as a default for all paying ChatGPT users, Altman promises ‘plenty of notice’ if it leaves again

Want smarter insights in your inbox? Sign up for our weekly newsletters to get only what matters to enterprise AI, data, and security leaders. Subscribe Now

OpenAI is once again making GPT-4o — the large language model (LLM) that powered ChatGPT before last week’s launch of GPT-5 — a default option for all paying users, that is, those who subscribe to the ChatGPT Plus ($20 per month), Pro ($200 per month), Team ($30 per month), Enterprise, or Edu tiers, no longer requiring users to toggle on a “show legacy models” setting to access it.

However, paying ChatGPT subscribers will also get a new “Show additional models” setting on by default that restores access to GPT-4.1, o3 and o4-mini, the latter two reasoning-focused LLMs.

OpenAI CEO and co-founder Sam Altman announced the change on X just minutes ago, pledging that if the company ever removes GPT-4o in the future, it will ...