OpenAI Kills GPT-4o and Users Are Legitimately Grieving

OpenAI is pulling the plug on GPT-4o, and some users aren't taking it well. At all.

The model earned a devoted following for its distinctly flirty, quirky personality — qualities that made it feel less like a chatbot and more like a companion. Some users described genuine feelings of anger and grief at the impending shutdown.

The timing couldn't be worse. OpenAI scheduled the retirement on the eve of Valentine's Day, effectively breaking up with users who'd formed emotional bonds with the AI. Reports describe people who considered GPT-4o a "perfect companion" now scrambling to cope with its absence.

It's a stark reminder of how deeply people can attach to AI systems — and how messy things get when companies decide to deprecate models that users have built relationships with. The chatbot giveth, and the chatbot taketh away.