OpenAI is retiring GPT-4o - again: What it means for you, and why some users are upset

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ZDNET's key takeaways

• OpenAI is bidding adieu to 4o, a favorite model among many users.
• Chats with 4o will still be accessible after that date.
• The company says only 1% of its users still engage with 4o.

It's a sad day for many ChatGPT users.

GPT-4o, the model that's become a favorite for many people because of its warm and friendly conversational tone, will be retired on Feb. 13, OpenAI announced Thursday. That means it'll no longer be accessible to paid users via the model selector menu in ChatGPT, though it'll still be available through OpenAI's API for the foreseeable future. ChatGPT's free users -- which comprise around 90% of OpenAI's userbase -- have not had access to 4o since OpenAI debuted GPT-5 in August.

(Disclosure: Ziff Davis, ZDNET ...