Users mourn as OpenAI retires GPT-4o

Sam Altman-run OpenAI has removed access to GPT-4o AI model in its ChatGPT app — a move which has left several users worldwide, especially in China, mourning the loss, as they treat their chatbot as an “emotional or romantic companion”, according to a report in Wired.

In August 2025, OpenAI first tried to retire GPT-4o, the specific model that helps many users believe is “more affectionate and understanding than its successors”.

The decision to pull the plug was met with immediate backlash.

OpenAI then reinstated 4o in the app for paid users but the reprieve has turned out to be short-lived.

On February 13, OpenAI “sunsetted GPT-4o for app users, and it will cut off access to developers using its API on the coming Monday,” the report said.

Huiqian Lai, a researcher at Syracuse University, analysed nearly 1,500 X posts in the week the AI model went offline in August.

She found that over 33 per cent of the posts said the chatbot was more than a tool, and 22 per cent talked about it as a companion.

Lai also collected “a larger pool of over 40,000 English-language posts on X under the hashtag #keep4o from August to October”.

A petition on Change.org, asking OpenAI to keep the version available in the app, has gathered over 20,000 signatures, said the report.

In China, a group of dedicated GPT-4o users have been organising and grieving in a similar way.

While ChatGPT is blocked in China, fans use VPN software to access the service.

“Some of them are threatening to cancel their ChatGPT subscriptions, publicly calling out Sam Altman for his inaction, and writing emails to OpenAI investors like Microsoft and SoftBank,” the report mentioned.

According to OpenAI, developers will remain able to access the base multimodal model of GPT-4o through API calls.

However, fans think it pales in comparison to GPT-4o-latest, the text-only version that’s more communicative.

“Many Chinese fans of GPT-4o have grown increasingly frustrated with OpenAI and Altman, who they feel minimize and rarely acknowledge the #keep4o community,” said the report.