OpenAI’s Model Shuffle: A Rant on GPT-4o, GPT-5, and the Never-Ending Menu of Chaos

Hello everyone. If you thought the wildest rollercoaster this year was in a theme park, you clearly haven’t been following OpenAI. Once again, the AI merry-go-round has spun back to a familiar horse – GPT-4o – now making yet another grand return as the default choice for ChatGPT Plus, Pro, Team, Enterprise, and Edu users. Yes, that’s right – the same model they shoved into “legacy mode” not that long ago is back at center stage. It’s like rotating out your main tank in a raid, wiping three pulls in a row, and quietly slotting them back in as if nothing happened.

For the uninitiated, paying customers no longer have to enable some obscure “Show legacy models” toggle to get GPT-4o. Instead, they’ll find it greeting them like an old friend… or more accurately, that ex you keep going back to because the new fling didn’t work out. But wait – there’s more! OpenAI has helpfully pre-enabled a “Show additional models” option, so you can happily scroll past GPT-4.1, o3, and that charmingly named o4-mini – smaller, reasoning-focused LLMs that seem to exist largely so the model picker looks like a Netflix category menu.

And in true corporate PR speak, CEO Sam Altman has graciously pledged that if GPT-4o ever vanishes again, we’ll all get “plenty of notice.” Oh, thank you, benevolent AI overlord. Because nothing says customer trust like warning labels on your disappearing product lineup.

GPT-5: Now With Pretend Control

The real pièce de résistance is the latest tweak to GPT-5 – you can now choose between “Auto,” “Fast,” and “Thinking” modes. It’s like picking between three potions in an RPG with no tooltips, except one of them has a 3,000-message-per-week cap that kicks you into a diet version called “GPT-5 Thinking mini.” This is an actual game mechanic now – you effectively get a stamina bar tied to your language model. Once it’s done, you’re playing the mobile free-to-play version until the next reset.

The so-called “Thinking” mode surely sounds enticing – an absurd 196,000-token context window, which is a lot like giving someone a warehouse for a brain. The only problem? Warehouses don’t help if the forklifts can’t keep up, and given the early reports of GPT-5’s inconsistent performance and broken “autoswitcher,” let’s just say I’ve seen smoother launches from early access farming sims.

Limited Edition Models and High-Cost Exclusivity

Now, GPT-4.5 – the mysteriously named mid-tier – remains locked behind the Pro subscription. Apparently, it eats GPUs like I eat wasabi peas during a Friday night edit session. Nice if you can afford it; totally irrelevant to the majority who can’t. This is beyond pay-to-win; it’s pay-to-even-touch-the-keyboard.

And because no modern tech product rollout is complete without tinkering with “the vibe,” OpenAI is exploring a personality makeover for GPT-5. The goal? Make it feel “warmer” than its current ice queen persona but less polarizing than GPT-4o’s tone. Translation: “We’re adjusting the NPC dialogue so fewer of you ragequit, but we’re not promising it won’t still creep you out at 2 a.m.”

The Emotional Attachment Problem

Here’s where the psychiatrist in me winces. Per-user customization is on the table to address the “emotional attachments” people have formed with specific models. Yeah, that’s right – some users are pining for GPT-4o like it’s a beloved childhood pet, framing this whole debacle like a breakup. I’d prescribe some digital detachment therapy before your next AI crush leaves you for the cloud.

Verdict

So, where does that leave us? OpenAI rolled out GPT-5 with big promises, faceplanted over usability and infrastructure issues, and then quietly backpedaled, tossing GPT-4o back as the default to calm the mob. Now you have more modes, more models, and more menus to fiddle with… but not necessarily a better AI experience. This is less like progress and more like reorganizing your inventory while the boss fight rages on. The changes feel reactionary, not visionary – like a company trying desperately to balance performance caps, GPU costs, and user sentiment while avoiding outright mutiny.

Overall impression: Not great. Sure, there’s more choice now, which sounds nice on paper – but if you need an Excel spreadsheet to understand how to talk to your AI, something has gone terribly, hilariously wrong.

And that, ladies and gentlemen, is entirely my opinion.

Article source: OpenAI brings GPT-4o back as a default for all paying ChatGPT users, Altman promises ‘plenty of notice’ if it leaves again, https://venturebeat.com/ai/openai-brings-gpt-4o-back-as-a-default-for-all-paying-chatgpt-users-altman-promises-plenty-of-notice-if-it-leaves-again/