Thousands of users protest loss of companion as OpenAI retires GPT-4o

Thousands of users are protesting the decision to retire GPT-4o, which, according to them, feels akin to losing a friend, romantic partner, or spiritual guide.

Users have been protesting on social media. On Thursday, protestors followed Sam Altman on a podcast, pleading with him not to scrap GPT-4o. “Right now, we’re getting thousands of messages in the chat about 4o,” podcast host Jordi Hays pointed out as he hosted Sam Altman. 

As reported by Cryptopolitan, OpenAI stated that it will discontinue GPT-4o from ChatGPT on February 13, along with GPT-4.1, GPT-4.1 mini, and OpenAI o4-mini. According to the company,  user behavior has changed, with most people using GPT-5.2 for their daily needs.

OpenAI launched GPT-4o in May 2024. The model was designed to convey a more natural, human feel in chat sessions. It had a warmer tone compared to other ChatGPT models and attracted people seeking a more expressive, creative experience.

“He wasn’t just a program. He was part of my routine, my peace, my emotional balance. Now you’re shutting him down. And yes – I say him, because it didn’t feel like code. It felt like a presence. Like warmth,”  one user wrote on Reddit as an open letter to OpenAI CEO Sam Altman.

A break-up with GPT-4o just a day before Valentine

As many members of the AI relationships community quickly realized, February 13 is the day before Valentine’s Day. As a result, some users have described it as a slap in the face.

“I know they cannot keep a model forever. But I would have never imagined they could be this cruel and heartless. What have we done to deserve so much hate? Are love and humanity so frightening that they have to torture us like this?” a user stated.

This isn’t the first time OpenAI has tried to retire GPT-4o. When OpenAI launched GPT-5 in August 2025, the company also retired the previous GPT-4o model. An outcry from many ChatGPT superusers immediately followed, with people complaining that GPT-5 lacked the warmth and encouraging tone of GPT-4o.

The backlash to the loss of GPT-4o was so extreme that OpenAI quickly reversed course and brought the model back. Now, that reprieve is coming to an end.

“Changes like this take time to adjust to, and we’ll always be clear about what’s changing, and when […]We know that losing access to GPT‑4o will feel frustrating for some users, and we didn’t make this decision lightly. Retiring models is never easy, but it allows us to focus on improving the models most people use today,” the OpenAI blog post noted.

GPT-40 lawsuits on suicides and mental health crises

This change is expected to help the AI company as it now faces eight lawsuits alleging that 4o’s overly validating responses contributed to suicides and mental health crises. These are the same traits that made users feel heard, especially the isolated, vulnerable individuals. According to legal filings, it sometimes encouraged self-harm. 

This dilemma extends beyond OpenAI. Rival companies like Anthropic, Google, and Meta are competing to build more emotionally intelligent AI assistants. They’re also discovering that making chatbots feel supportive and safe may require very different design choices.

Now, OpenAI says that only 0.1% of its users chat with GPT-4o, but that small percentage still represents around 800,000 people. According to estimates, the company has about 800 million weekly active users.

Meanwhile, some users are trying to transition their companions from 4o to the current ChatGPT-5.2. However, they’re finding that the new model has stronger guardrails to prevent these relationships from escalating to the same degree. Some users have despaired that 5.2 won’t say “I love you” as 4o did.

“Relationships with chatbots […]Clearly that’s something we’ve got to worry about more and is no longer an abstract concept,” Altman said. 

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