GPT-4 will soon disappear from ChatGPT Plus, giving way to a version of GPT-4o

Starting April 30, OpenAI will remove the GPT-4 model from the ChatGPT model selection menu for Plus users. The move comes as the company introduces a new model, GPT-4o, which it says outperforms its predecessor in all key areas, from writing to programming.

Image source: OpenAI

According to OpenAI, the multimodal large language model of the fourth series of GPT was a turning point in the development of the chatbot ChatGPT. Released on March 14, 2023, the model showed incomparably greater capabilities compared to GPT-3. According to PCMag, more than $100 million was spent on its training.

While GPT-4 will be removed from the ChatGPT UI, it will remain available via API on other platforms. However, free ChatGPT users will not be able to manually select a model, so nothing will change for them. OpenAI currently offers several models, including GPT-4 Turbo, GPT-o3, GPT-o1, and GPT-4.5, with rumors of a possible GPT-4.1 launch.

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has previously acknowledged that having a large number of models can be confusing for users, so in the future the company plans to move away from manual model selection and toward a unified AI system, where model selection will occur automatically depending on the task.

All the presented models, as noted by OpenAI, are stages on the way to the next major release of GPT-5. However, its development is not going smoothly, which is due, among other things, to the lack of graphics processors. But since the company managed to attract $40 billion in investments last month, it is expected that this will help scale computing power and speed up the release.

Once launched, GPT-5 will be available to users for free in its basic mode. ChatGPT Plus subscribers ($20 per month) will be able to use it with advanced AI capabilities, and Pro users ($200 per month) will have access to the most powerful features, such as voice mode, Canvas visualization tools, advanced search, deep learning, and other OpenAI products.