New Delhi: OpenAI, led by CEO Sam Altman, has removed access to its GPT-4o model in the ChatGPT app, sparking disappointment among users globally, particularly in China, who regarded the AI as an “emotional or romantic companion,” according to Wired.
First slated for retirement in August 2025, GPT-4o was widely considered by users to be “more affectionate and understanding than its successors.” After initial backlash, OpenAI reinstated the model for paid users, but the reprieve was short-lived. On February 13, the company officially sunsetted GPT-4o for app users, with API access for developers set to be cut off the following Monday.
Researcher Huiqian Lai of Syracuse University analysed nearly 1,500 posts on X from August 2025, finding that over 33% described the chatbot as more than a tool, and 22% referred to it as a companion. A broader collection of over 40,000 English-language posts under the hashtag #keep4o from August to October reflected similar sentiments. A petition on Change.org asking OpenAI to retain the model has amassed more than 20,000 signatures.
In China, dedicated GPT-4o users have been similarly vocal. Despite ChatGPT being blocked in the country, fans accessed the service using VPNs, expressing frustration, threatening to cancel subscriptions, publicly calling out Sam Altman, and even emailing OpenAI investors including Microsoft and SoftBank.
OpenAI stated that developers can still access the base multimodal GPT-4o model via API calls, but many users believe it lacks the communicative qualities of GPT-4o-latest, the text-only version.
“Many Chinese fans of GPT-4o have grown increasingly frustrated with OpenAI and Altman, who they feel minimize and rarely acknowledge the #keep4o community,” the report noted.
The retirement of GPT-4o highlights the complex relationship between AI developers and users who form emotional attachments to interactive AI models, underscoring broader questions about AI as companion technology.
With IANS inputs