‘They ruined ChatGPT’: OpenAI faces backlash as GPT-5 reaches all users

The anticipation around OpenAI’s GPT-5 model finally came to an end as the company released the latest model to power ChatGPT during a live-stream on Thursday. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman described GPT-5 as a major step forward in AI and compared the model’s abilities to that of a PhD-level expert across various fields.

OpenAI says the new model is better at reasoning, writing, coding, accuracy, health-related queries, and more, while having significantly fewer hallucinations (making stuff up that isn’t true). The GPT-5 release started rolling out to users soon after the launch announcement, and the biggest change so far has been bidding adieu to previous OpenAI models.

OpenAI was employing GPT-4o to handle normal queries while o3 or o4 mini handled tasks involving reasoning abilities. However, with the GPT-5 rollout, OpenAI has removed the model picker option from ChatGPT, and users can no longer choose which model they want to use like before — leading to frustration among social media users.

Notably, GPT-5 comes with an efficient model and a reasoning model, but users don’t need to make the choice to trigger the reasoning model; OpenAI uses a router to decide which model to engage for a particular query.

Netizens react to GPT-5 rollout:

Not only were social media users angry about losing access to their favourite models, but the consensus on online forums seems to be that the new GPT-5 model gives shorter answers while having less personality than the previous versions. Moreover, many users who spent hours interacting with the chatbot now say that they have fewer prompts to work with — even with a ChatGPT Plus subscription.

“They have completely ruined ChatGPT. It’s slower, even without the thinking mode. It has such short replies and it gets some of the most basic things wrong. It also doesn’t listen to the instructions you give and just does whatever it wants to do.” wrote one user in a Reddit post on the ChatGPT sub-reddit.

“They did everything in their power to shorten the answers to be as specific and targeted to save money. They’ve removed the emotional intelligence of the AI because if it’s not interesting to talk to people won’t spend all day just chatting with it, which will save them money. Except it’s actually going to earn them millions of lost subscriptions.” reacted another user. 

“It definitely doesn’t have the same vibe as 4o. It’s more organized in some ways, but I find the responses while accurate are shorter and more clipped in tone. ” yet another user noted

“Answers are shorter and, so far, not any better than previous models. Combine that with more restrictive usage, and it feels like a downgrade branded as the new hotness.” opined one user

“I really feel like I just watched a close friend die.” stated a user on the removal of GPT-4o and other models from ChatGPT.