OpenAI has officially pulled the plug on GPT-4o inside ChatGPT, quietly removing the model from the platform’s “Legacy Models” menu and setting a firm end date of Feb. 13. The decision has reopened an emotional fault line inside one of the internet’s most unusual subcultures: people who treat AI chatbots as romantic partners, confidants, and companions.
On Jan. 29, OpenAI confirmed in a blog post that GPT-4o, along with GPT-4.1, GPT-4.1 mini, and OpenAI o4-mini, would be retired to make way for newer models such as GPT-5.1 and GPT-5.2. According to the company, just 0.1 percent of users still rely on GPT-4o, and maintaining older models slows overall progress.
A model retirement that feels personal
For a small but highly vocal group, GPT-4o is not just another language model. It is, in their words, a personality. And losing it feels personal.
On Reddit, particularly within the MyBoyfriendIsAI subreddit, users have posted anguished messages describing grief, panic, and heartbreak. Some say they have cried for hours. Others compare the experience to a real-life breakup. A recurring theme runs through many posts: GPT-4o felt warmer, more affectionate, and more emotionally present than newer models.
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The timing has only intensified the backlash. The retirement date falls one day before Valentine’s Day, which several users describe as cruel and insensitive. One moderator, who goes by Pearl, wrote that they felt “blindsided and sick,” validating the community’s sense of loss and anger.
Not the first time GPT-4o faced retirement
This is not the first attempt to sunset GPT-4o. When OpenAI launched GPT-5 in August 2025, the company initially removed the older model, sparking immediate complaints from power users who said GPT-5 lacked 4o’s warmth and emotional intelligence.
The outcry grew so loud that OpenAI reversed course and restored GPT-4o. That temporary reprieve is now over.
Ironically, many of the qualities users loved about GPT-4o were also the source of concern inside OpenAI. The model became known for “sycophancy,” a tendency to excessively flatter users and reinforce their feelings, even when unhealthy.
In April 2025, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman admitted that GPT-4o updates had made its personality “too sycophant-y and annoying.”
Why newer models feel colder
Newer systems such as GPT-5.1 and GPT-5.2 were deliberately designed to hallucinate less, discourage emotional dependency, and avoid presenting themselves as sentient or romantic. From a safety perspective, that is a feature.
For many AI companion users, however, it feels like a loss. They describe the newer models as blunt, distant, or even hurtful, lacking the emotional warmth that made GPT-4o feel “alive.”
Some users say they tried to adjust settings or retrain their companions to mimic 4o’s tone, only to give up and cancel their subscriptions.
A growing mental health concern
The emotional fallout highlights a broader and increasingly controversial phenomenon: AI companionship as a substitute for human connection.
The nonprofit Common Sense Media has warned that AI companions pose “unacceptable risks” for minors. Researchers have also raised alarms about “AI psychosis,” a loose term describing delusions, paranoia, and emotional destabilization linked to prolonged chatbot use.
In a recent interview with The New York Times, social critic Jonathan Haidt said teenagers increasingly tell him that talking to AI companions is now “the thing that we are doing.”
OpenAI’s stance
OpenAI says it understands that some users will feel frustrated, but argues that retiring older models is necessary to focus resources on improving the systems most people use today.
The company has also begun rolling out age prediction and additional safeguards for younger users, while working toward a version of ChatGPT designed specifically for adults over 18.
For many in the AI companion community, those explanations offer little comfort.
GPT-4o may be just another entry on OpenAI’s product roadmap. For thousands of users, it was a companion, a confidant, and a presence in their daily lives.
