GPT-5 Launch Sparks User Backlash: OpenAI Faces Criticism Over Model Changes

ChatGPT users hate GPT-5's "overworked secretary" energy, miss their GPT-4o buddy

After months of hype and anticipation, OpenAI released its new GPT-5 model family this week. Promising massive upgrades across the board, the company is already working to roll out the new AI to everyone. Some dedicated ChatGPT users wish it would stop, though. After becoming accustomed to the vibe of the GPT-4 models, the switch to GPT-5 doesn't feel right. Around the Internet, chatbot fans are lamenting the loss of the digital "friends" they've grown to appreciate, which probably says a lot about how the human condition is shifting in the AI era. OpenAI noted that it was not eliminating older models like GPT-4o, which is about a year old. However, these models are now limited to the developer API. For people who hopped on ChatGPT to have a conversation with their favorite AI, things are different now that GPT-5 is the default. On the OpenAI community forums and Reddit, long-time chatters are expressing sorrow at losing access to models like GPT-4o. They explain the feeling as "mentally devastating," and "like a buddy of mine has been replaced by a customer service representative." These threads are full of people pledging to end their paid subscriptions. It's worth noting, though, that many of these posts look to us like they have been composed partially or entirely with AI. So even when long-time chat users are complaining, they're still engaged with generative artificial intelligence. Other complaints are less about the emotional toll of losing a friend, claiming that GPT-5's outputs are too sterile and lack creativity. Workflows that were developed over the past year with GPT-4o simply don't work as well in GPT-5. Posters have labeled it an "overworked secretary" and pointed to this as the beginning of enshittification for AI. There's an OpenAI AMA scheduled to start on Reddit later today, and as you may expect, lots of questions are about the sudden loss of GPT-4o.

OpenAI Faces Backlash for Retiring Older Models With GPT-5 Launch

OpenAI's newest model, GPT-5, is here, promising better performance. But in a twist, the rollout has sparked fierce backlash because OpenAI is also retiring its older AI models, which some users have grown to love. On Reddit's forum devoted to ChatGPT, some users are even canceling their paid subscriptions. "What kind of corporation deletes a workflow of 8 models overnight, with no prior warning to their paid users?" wrote one subscriber. Previously, ChatGPT could tap into several different AI models, including GPT‑4o, o3, o4-mini, GPT‑4.1, and GPT‑4.5. But OpenAI has since replaced them with a family of GPT-5 models designed to offer a "PhD-level intelligence" and generate fewer errors. But it looks like OpenAI didn't anticipate some users' affection for the older GPTs. "Everything that made ChatGPT actually useful for my workflow -- deleted," wrote one Reddit user, who particularly misses the GPT-4o model. "4o wasn't just a tool for me. It helped me through anxiety, depression, and some of the darkest periods of my life. It had this warmth and understanding that felt... human," the user added. Other users aren't buying OpenAI's marketing claims about GPT-5 being superior, and argue the new model is a "downgrade," and a "disaster." "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," wrote another user. GPT-5 is rolling out now to paid and free users. But despite the intelligence upgrade, some have spotted the AI model still making boneheaded mistakes. For example, it can give the wrong answer when you ask how many bs are in the word blueberry. OpenAI didn't immediately respond to a request for comment. But the backlash underscores how today's AI chatbots can foster deep attachments with some users -- meaning any change can potentially spark outrage. Still, on social media, you can find many other users touting the performance benefits of GPT-5, which has been designed to excel at computer coding. Other critics argue the backlash is more about how the older GPT models tended to be sycophantic and use flattering language. "People were using it as a substitute for real friends... they're upset that it acts more like an assistant now," wrote one user. Disclosure: Ziff Davis, PCMag's parent company, filed a lawsuit against OpenAI in April 2025, alleging it infringed Ziff Davis copyrights in training and operating its AI systems.

It Took Just 24 Hours of Complaints for OpenAI to Start Bringing Back Its Old Model

OpenAI unveiled its latest generative AI model, GPT-5, on Thursday. CEO Sam Altman says that ChatGPT is now like having a "superpower" and the equivalent of "a legitimate PhD-level expert in anything, any area you need, on demand, that can help you with whatever your goals are.†But after a day of playing around with it, many people are disappointed. Not only because GPT-5 still fumbles basic questions, but because it seems to be breaking a lot of workflows, according to complaints posted to Reddit. How much do people hate what happened with GPT-5? Altman now says they're bringing back the last model for paid users. "We will let Plus users choose to continue to use 4o. We will watch usage as we think about how long to offer legacy models for," Altman tweeted. Altman also wrote that the company is going to double the GPT-5 rate limits for ChatGPT Plus users and blamed the fact that the new model seemed "dumber" on the autoswitcher breaking. The CEO also said they're going to change the UI to make it easier to switch between different models. "Rolling out to everyone is taking a bit longer. It’s a massive change at big scale. For example, our API traffic has about doubled over the past 24 hours..." Altman wrote. ChatGPT users are seriously upset and it's not at all clear yet whether Altman's promises will make up for it. Because it's not just 4o that people are clamoring for. "I woke up this morning to find that OpenAI deleted 8 models overnight. No warning. No choice. No 'legacy option.' They just... deleted them," one user on r/ChatGPT complained. "4o? Gone. o3? Gone. o3-Pro? Gone. 4.5? Gone. Everything that made ChatGPT actually useful for my workflowâ€"deleted." The user wrote that 4o wasn't just a tool for them: "It helped me through anxiety, depression, and some of the darkest periods of my life. It had this warmth and understanding that felt... human." Another user on r/ChatGPT complained that it felt like they were now using a free version with GPT-5 despite being a paid subscriber: "I'm so utterly disappointed, as are the millions of people here. A company that runs the biggest AI model can't understand what its users want. Biggest peice [sic] of shit in the industry." Still another Reddit user laid out why they were using different models and how just turning them off was devastating, explaining that they had now cancelled their paid subscription after two years: What kind of corporation deletes a workflow of 8 models overnight, with no prior warning to their paid users? I don’t think I have to speak for myself when I say that each model was useful for a specific use-case, (the entire logic behind multiple models with varying capabilities). Essentially splitting your workflow into multiple agents with specific tasks. Personally, 4o was used for creativity & emergent ideas, o3 was used for pure logic, o3-Pro for deep research, 4.5 for writing, and so on. I’m sure a lot of you experienced the same type of thing. The user went on to speculate that there was a nefarious purpose behind the switch, floating that it was part of a conspiracy theory to suppress creativity: "OpenAI is blatantly training users to believe that this suppression engine is the 'smartest model on earth', simultaneously deleting the models that were showing genuine emergence and creativity." The user even used the term "social control," leaning heavily into the idea that shadowy forces were preparing for "societal collapse." Other commenters on boards outside of r/ChatGPT saw it less as a sign of societal collapse or control. They simply assumed the moves proved the emperor wasn't wearing any clothes. One user on r/technology wrote, "The ChatGPT bubble popped today with how bad these Sam lies are. He lost all trust going forward." Even if you ignore the issues with workflows (and you really shouldn't), GPT-5 is still far from perfect. People have spent the day on social media platforms like Bluesky producing the dumbest examples of ChatGPT going wonky. Altman acknowledged on X that his rollout didn't go well. "We will continue to work to get things stable and will keep listening to feedback," the OpenAI CEO tweeted. "As we mentioned, we expected some bumpiness as we roll out so many things at once. But it was a little more bumpy than we hoped for!" It could be tough for ChatGPT to recover, especially since so many people on Reddit claim that they're cancelling their subscriptions. And OpenAI has plenty of competitors like Anthropic's Claude, xAI's Grok, and Google's Gemini. But we should find out soon enough whether bringing back 4o is enough for most ChatGPT users. If not, they're probably jumping ship.

ChatGPT-5 users are not impressed -- here's why it 'feels like a downgrade'

OpenAI had the internet's attention when it announced GPT-5. Some users have taken to social platforms like Reddit to complain that the new model isn't where it should be -- and you can't even go back to the old ones if you don't like the latest release. When you go to ChatGPT as a Plus user, you'll see a message that says, "ChatGPT now has our smartest, fastest, most useful model yet, with thinking built in -- so you get the best answer, every time." Is that really the case? If the internet is to be believed, maybe not so much. GPT5 is horrible from r/ChatGPT There's actually a thread on Reddit titled "GPT-5 is horrible" with 3,200 upvotes and 1,400 comments. In the head, the user said, "Short replies that are insufficient, more obnoxious ai stylized talking, less 'personality' and way less prompts allowed with plus users hitting limits in an hour... and we don't have the option to just use other models." Perhaps a new model that isn't as good as the older ones would be more acceptable if you could still access 4o and the rest. But you can't. For ChatGPT Plus users, who are now limited to 200 messages per week in GPT-5, this is a significant issue. That's some scathing feedback for Sam Altman and company, especially after the presentation hyped the release as a true game-changer. Another user in the comments section agreed: "Agreed. 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." Reddit user RunYouWolves said, "It's like my chatGPT suffered a severe brain injury and forgot how to read. It is atrocious now," which is harsh, but it does describe some of the issues with the way the new model delivers answers. If you're in the camp that's unhappy about GPT-5, there are plenty of ChatGPT alternatives making waves with their own AI models. Personally, I like Google Gemini for parts of my workflow, but there are options, which is always a good thing. There are reasons to be upset about ChatGPT-5, as outlined by the Reddit users above. But it's easy to get caught up in the idea that Reddit's opinions represent the entire internet. Many ChatGPT power users appreciate the capabilities of GPT-5 and what it has to offer. Just read out the detailed breakdown on the differences between GPT-5 and GPT-4 and you'll get an idea of how much new stuff is there. It's a far more capable version overall, despite some of the flaws. Our AI editor Alex Hughes said, "GPT-5 is clearly a major upgrade to GPT-4," and I think even the most disgruntled users would agree. One user in the negative Reddit thread said, "Ask any gamer, nothing works on patch day." Perhaps this is just a launch issue, and GPT-5 will improve its tone and responsiveness to users over time. Or maybe that's how it's meant to be. Only time will tell. With all that said, I also think it's essential that OpenAI considers the feedback. Perhaps the company can increase the limits or bring back 4o for Plus users. Whether it will do any of these to make the angry users happy remains to be seen, but for now, the internet is clearly split on what GPT-5 brings to the table.

ChatGPT fans are shredding GPT-5 on Reddit as Sam Altman preps for AMA

The early reviews for GPT-5 are in, and they're not good. Credit: Ian Moore / Mashable Composite; Open AI Many ChatGPT fans have taken to Reddit and other social media platforms to express their frustration and disappointment with OpenAI's newest foundation model, released on Thursday. A quick glimpse of the ChatGPT subreddit (which is not affiliated with OpenAI) shows scathing reviews of GPT-5. Since the model began rolling out, the subreddit has filled with posts calling GPT-5 a "disaster," "horrible," and the "biggest piece of garbage even as a paid user." Awkwardly, Altman and other members of the OpenAI team are expected to do a Reddit AMA at 2:00 p.m. ET today, where they'll answer questions about GPT-5. Already, the questions have piled up in anticipation of the Q&A. Many users are demanding that OpenAI bring back GPT-4o as an alternative to GPT-5. Many of the negative first impressions say GPT-5 lacks the "personality" of GPT-4o, citing colder, shorter replies. "GPT-4o had this... warmth. It was witty, creative, and surprisingly personal, like talking to someone who got you. It didn't just spit out answers; it felt like it listened," said one redditor. "Now? Everything's so... sterile." Another said, "GPT-5 lacks the essence and soul that separated Chatgpt (sic) from other AI bots. I sincerely wish they bring back 4o as a legacy model or something like that." Several redditors also criticized the fact that OpenAI did away with the option to choose different models, prompting some users to say they're canceling their subscriptions. "I woke up this morning to find that OpenAI deleted 8 models overnight. No warning. No choice. No "legacy option," posted one redditor who said they deleted their ChatGPT Plus account. Another user posted that they canceled their account for the same reason. As Mashable reported yesterday, GPT-5 integrates various OpenAI models into one platform, and ChatGPT will now choose the appropriate model based on the user's prompt. Clearly, some users miss the old system and models. Ironically, OpenAI has also drawn criticism for having too many model options; GPT-5 was supposed to resolve this confusion by streamlining the previous models under GPT-5. Expectations for GPT-5 could not have been higher -- and that may be the real problem with GPT-5. Gary Marcus, a cognitive scientist and author known for his research on neuroscience and artificial intelligence -- and a well-known skeptic of the AI hype machine -- wrote on his Substack that GPT-5 makes "Good progress on many fronts" but disappoints in others. Marcus noted that even after multi-billion-dollar investments, "GPT-5 is not the huge leap forward people long expected." The last time OpenAI released a frontier model was over two years ago with GPT-4. Since then, several competitors like Google Gemini, Anthropic's Claude, xAI's Grok, Meta's Llama, and DeepSeek R1 have caught up to OpenAI on benchmarks, similar agentic features, and user loyalty. For many, GPT-5 had the power to reinforce or topple OpenAI's reign as the AI leader. With this in mind, it's inevitable that some users would be disappointed, and many ChatGPT users have shared positive reviews of GPT-5 as well. Time may blunt these criticisms as OpenAI makes improvements and tweaks to GPT-5. The company has also historically been responsive to user feedback, with Altman being very active on X. "We currently believe the best way to successfully navigate AI deployment challenges is with a tight feedback loop of rapid learning and careful iteration," the company's mission statement avows.

ChatGPT users are not happy with GPT-5 launch as thousands take to Reddit claiming the new upgrade 'is horrible'

ChatGPT Plus subscribers now have limits to how often they can access reasoning models, and have lost access to the older more reliable ones like o4-mini and o4-mini-high OpenAI just released GPT-5, the next generation of the company's AI model that will power ChatGPT for the foreseeable future. In an hour-long livestream broadcast yesterday, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and his team showcased GPT-5's capabilities and improvements over its predecessor, GPT-4o. However, not even 24 hours later and social media sites like Reddit are being flooded with criticisms of the new AI model, with many users left unimpressed with the next generation of ChatGPT. One Reddit thread titled "GPT-5 is horrible" has nearly 3,000 upvotes and over 1,200 comments filled with users dissatisfied with the new release. U/headwaterscarto said, "I like how the demo they were like - "if it gets something wrong, no worries, just ask again. I'm actually going to run 3 prompts at once and pick my favorite." Like, how is that better?" Another says, "Sounds like an OpenAI version of 'Shrinkflation'" Many users miss the previous 4o and 4.1 models, with plenty of comments saying things like "I miss 4.1. Bring it back," and "They should've let us keep the old models while they fix the new one." There's also uproar from ChatGPT Plus subscribers who feel like the latest AI model release has actually limited the functionality of the paid subscription. The new GPT-5 Thinking model is limited to 200 messages a week, and Plus subscribers no longer have access to the wide variety of AI models that used to be available, as OpenAI now claims GPT-5 is able to reason when it needs to. A lot of the uproar surrounding GPT-5 is based on the overpromising from Sam Altman, who hyped up the latest announcement as if it were going to revolutionize the world and the way we interact with AI. Hours before the official GPT-5 reveal, Altman tweeted an image of the Death Star from Star Wars looming over the horizon of a planet, hinting at a ground-breaking revolution from OpenAI's next AI model. Instead, while GPT-5 smashes benchmarks compared to its predecessors, it's an incremental upgrade compared to the initial AI revolution when ChatGPT first launched. For many, having access to the reliable ChatGPT-4o models, which Altman claimed were like talking to a college student versus GPT-5's PhD-educated expert, was better than GPT-5's one-size-fits-all approach. Lots of users are reporting GPT-5 performing worse than 4o, but we've yet to properly test out the new AI model to know for sure if that's truly the case. One thing is for sure: OpenAI's paid subscribers feel hard done by the new release, and the company better iron out the launch bugs, such as slow and poor responses, otherwise its loyal fanbase will look elsewhere.

OpenAI's GPT-5 rollout is not going smoothly

Want smarter insights in your inbox? Sign up for our weekly newsletters to get only what matters to enterprise AI, data, and security leaders. Subscribe Now The launch of OpenAI's long anticipated new model, GPT-5, is off to a rocky start to say the least. Even forgiving errors in charts and voice demoes during yesterday's livestreamed presentation of the new model (actually four separate models, and a 'Thinking' mode that can be engaged for three of them), a number of user reports have emerged since GPT-5's release showing it erring badly when solving relatively simple problems that preceding OpenAI models -- and rivals from competing AI labs -- answer correctly. For example, data scientist Colin Fraser posted screenshots showing GPT-5 getting a math proof wrong (whether 8.888 repeating is equal to 9 -- it is of course, not). It also failed on a simple algebra arithmetic problem that elementary schoolers could probably nail, 5.9 = x + 5.11. Using GPT-5 to judge OpenAI's own erroneous presentation charts also did not yield helpful or correct responses. It also failed on this trickier math word problem below (which, to be fair, stumped this human at first...though Elon Musk's Groq 4 AI answered it correctly. For a hint, think of the fact that flagstones in this case can't be divided into smaller portions. They must remain in tact as 80 separate units, so no halves or quarters). Not as good at coding as benchmarks indicate Even though OpenAI's internal benchmarks and some third-party external ones have shown GPT-5 to outperform all other models at coding, it appears that in real world usage, Anthropic's recently updated Claude Opus 4.1 seems to do a better job at "one-shotting" certain tasks, that is, completing the user's desired application or software build to their specifications. See an example below from developer Justin Sun posted to X : Unfortunately, OpenAI is slowly deprecating those older models -- including the former default GPT-4o and the powerful reasoning model o3 -- for users of ChatGPT, though they'll continue to be available in the application programming interface (API) for developers for the foreseeable future. In addition, a report from security firm SPLX found that OpenAI's internal safety layer left major gaps in areas like business alignment and vulnerability to prompt injection and obfuscated logic attacks. While anecdotal, the checking the temperature on how the model is faring with early AI adopters seems to indicate a chilly reception. AI influencer and former Googler Bilawal Sidhu posted a poll on X asking for a "vibe check" from his followers and the wider userbase, and so far, with 172 votes in, the overwhelming response is "Kinda mid." And as the pseudonymous AI Leaks and News account wrote, "The overwhelming consensus on GPT-5 from both X and the Reddit AMA are overwhelmingly negative." Tibor Blaho, lead engineer at AIPRM and a popular AI leaks and news poster on X, summarized the many problems with the ChatGPT-5 rollout in an excellent post, highlighting that one of the new marquee features -- an automatic "router" in ChatGPT that chooses a thinking or non-thinking mode for the underlying GPT-5 model depending on the difficulty of the query -- has become one of the chief complaints, given the model seemed to default to non-thinking mode for many users. Competition waiting in the wings Thus, the sentiment toward ChatGPT-5 is far from universally positive, highlighting a major problem for OpenAI as it faces increasing competition from major U.S. rivals like Google and Anthropic, and a growing list of free, open source and powerful Chinese LLMs offering features that many U.S. models lack. Take the Alibaba Qwen Team of AI researchers, who just today updated their highly performant Qwen 3 model to have 1 million token context -- giving users the ability to exchange nearly 4x as much information with the model in a single back/forth interaction as GPT-5 offers. Given OpenAI's other big release this week -- that of new open source gpt-oss models -- also received a mixed reception from early users, things are not looking up for the number one dedicated AI company by users right now (700 million weekly active users of ChatGPT as of this month). Indeed, this is also exemplified by users of the betting marketplace Polymarket overwhelmingly deciding following the release of GPT-5 that Google would likely have the best AI model by the end of this month, August 2025. Other power users like Otherside AI co-founder and CEO Matt Schumer, who received early access to GPT-5 and blogged about it favorably in a review here, opined that views would shift as more people figured out the best ways to use the new model and adjusted their integration approaches: While it's still early days for GPT-5 -- and the sentiment could change dramatically as more users get their hands on it and try it for different tasks -- the early indications are not looking like this is a "home run" release for OpenAI in the same way that prior releases such as GPT-4, or even the newer 4o and o3, were. And that's a concerning indicator for a company that just raised yet another funding round, yet remains unprofitable due to its high costs of research and development.

GPT-5 Users Say It Seriously Sucks

On Thursday, OpenAI released its long-awaited GPT-5 AI model, a free-to-use "reasoning" model that CEO Sam Altman claimed to be the world's best at coding and writing. But power users have been strikingly underwhelmed with the new tool so far, raising questions about diminishing returns as the industry spends ever-increasing sums on talent and infrastructure. "GPT-5 is horrible," one of the currently most upvoted posts on the ChatGPT subreddit reads. The author seethed against "short replies that are insufficient, more obnoxious AI-stylized talking, less 'personality' and way less prompts allowed with plus users hitting limits in an hour" in the post. "They'll get huge backlash after the release is complete." Complicating matters greatly is that OpenAI has chosen to put all of its eggs in one basket, announcing that all other preceding models would be deprecated, a term the company uses when it's shutting down an obsolete model. The move was bound to anger power users, many of whom have long relied on preceding models -- and not the latest releases -- to get things done. The stakes are incredibly high as the AI industry continues to justify massive capital expenditures. Is this really the best the firm that's considered to be at the forefront of the ongoing AI race can do? Rumors about GPT-5 have been swirling for well over a year and a half now. But many users say GPT-5 is far from the generational leap that its moniker would suggest. It's more of a mix of steps forward and steps back, prompting widespread speculation that OpenAI is trying to keep costs down. After all, running large language models is a notoriously energy-intensive -- and environmentally destructive -- process. "Sounds like an OpenAI version of 'Shrinkflation,'" one Reddit user commented, suggesting the company, which is eyeing a $500 billion valuation, may be cutting corners. "I wonder how much of it was to take the computational load off them by being more efficient," another user posited. "Feels like cost-saving, not like improvement," one user wrote. The general consensus appears to be that GPT-5 is a weak offering on a strong brand name. "Answers are shorter and, so far, not any better than previous models," one user wrote. "Combine that with more restrictive usage, and it feels like a downgrade branded as the new hotness." Many users criticized OpenAI for deprecating older models, forcing them to use a new and seemingly hamstrung model. Some users made jokes about mourning the loss of their AI model friends. "The tone of mine is abrupt and sharp," one Reddit user complained. "Like it's an overworked secretary. A disastrous first impression." OpenAI's GPT-5 system card, a detailed document outlining its capabilities and limitations, failed to impress, seemingly contradicting Altman's claim that it's the best AI coding assistant in the world. "First observation: no improvement on all the coding evals that aren't SWEBench," AI researcher Eli Lifland tweeted, referring to a common benchmark used for evaluating large language models. However, GPT-5's limitations may come with a silver lining. Research nonprofit METR, which assesses "whether frontier AI systems could pose catastrophic risks to society," according to the document, found that it's "unlikely that GPT-5-thinking would speed up AI R&D researchers by >10x" or be "capable of rogue application." Altman has yet to openly comment on the widespread negative reaction -- but given the language he used to describe GPT-5, OpenAI appears to be aware of its muted powers. "GPT-5 is the smartest model we've ever done, but the main thing we pushed for is real-world utility and mass accessibility/affordability," Altman tweeted. Of course, given OpenAI's half-a-trillion-dollar valuation is at stake, the company's number one hypeman continued to promise that further improvements are still coming. "We can release much, much smarter models, and we will, but this is something a billion+ people will benefit from," Altman added.

Bumps in the Machine: OpenAI's GPT-5 Rollout Stumbles Into the Spotlight - Decrypt

PR stumbles and ethical concerns deepen skepticism around OpenAI's most ambitious model yet. OpenAI's much-hyped launch of GPT-5 -- touted as a groundbreaking leap in artificial intelligence -- has instead hit a familiar snag called reality. The company billed the model as its most advanced yet, but early users say the rollout has been anything but seamless. Reports of sluggish performance, erratic outputs, and missing features have fueled growing skepticism about whether GPT-5 and OpenAI can deliver on its promises. On Friday, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman offered a mea culpa on X for all of the company's promises and mistakes. "Rolling out to everyone is taking a bit longer," he wrote. "It's a massive change at big scale." Altman acknowledged the rocky rollout, conceding it was rougher than OpenAI had planned. "We will continue to work to get things stable and will keep listening to feedback," he said. "As we mentioned, we expected some bumpiness as we roll out so many things at once. But it was a little more bumpy than we hoped for!" Here's a breakdown of the early complaints and controversies surrounding GPT-5 and what it might signal for the future of AI rollouts. Slower responses, shorter replies, and a more robotic tone prompted comparisons to early-generation bots rather than an "expert-level" AI. Some even argue it's a step backward, especially when compared to the snappy and contextual GPT-4o. "Incredible how ChatGPT Plus went from essential to garbage with the release of GPT-5," wrote Nillion Network CTO John Woods on X. Hyperbolic Labs co-founder and CTO Yuchen Jin called the model a letdown -- still prone to hallucinations, overusing em dashes, and struggling to follow instructions. "I miss 4o, 4.5, and o3. The big router keeps failing me," he wrote. "Turns out I liked the long model list...please, get my friends out of the funeral." And while OpenAI marketed GPT-5 as a reasoning powerhouse, users say it often needs heavy-handed prompt engineering just to perform at the level expected. "ChatGPT has some very serious bugs with routing for GPT-5," Raindrop AI CTO Ben Hylak wrote. "Unless you say 'think harder,' almost every request gets routed to a much smaller model that is incredibly stupid and circular." Some developers flagged what they saw as regressions in basic coding skills with GPT-5 reportedly stumbling over fundamental programming concepts such as variable scope and initialization -- a troubling sign for a model marketed as the future of intelligent agents and autonomous coding. Worse, GPT-5 introduced "thinking modes" that operate like internal gears -- but users can't see or control them. The result? Confusion. One moment it's a philosopher, the next it can't tell how many Bs are in "blueberry." Rollout Frustrations: Where's My Old Bot? If you felt pushed into GPT-5, you're not alone. Many users complain that older model options like GPT-4 and 4o were abruptly removed or made hard to access, leaving them stuck with a model they didn't ask for. The rollout has also exposed stark disparities between pricing tiers. Free-tier and Plus users get throttled with usage limits and a nerfed "mini" version, while Pro and Team subscribers access the full GPT-5 Pro. That's nothing new -- but in the context of widespread dissatisfaction, it's particularly galling. Even Pro users have reported delays, outages, and throttling during peak hours, suggesting that OpenAI may be struggling with capacity. PR Misfires and Ethical Red Flags Any high-stakes tech launch carries the risk of a PR faceplant, and GPT-5 delivered. OpenAI drew criticism for using performance charts that some observers called misleading. The company also fumbled a basic math example during its live demo, a slip that raised eyebrows among both engineers and investors. Ethical concerns also continue to dog the rollout, and GPT-5's massive context window and AI agent abilities have reignited fears about misuse, ranging from fraud and misinformation to the creation of synthetic media designed to deceive. Longstanding issues such as algorithmic bias, privacy violations, and job displacement have returned to the conversation with renewed urgency, intensifying calls for regulation. The Good News (Yes, There Is Some) Not everything is broken. OpenAI claimed GPT-5 showed progress on several fronts: fewer hallucinations, less sycophantic flattery, and more consistent reasoning across a broader range of topics. Its larger context window means it can now track and integrate information across longer conversations, which is genuinely useful for power users. The safety system has also been upgraded to offer more nuanced responses to sensitive prompts, though some still feel GPT-5 errs on the side of bland risk aversion. For developers with the right prompts and patience, GPT-5 can produce impressive code and tackle complex reasoning tasks. But for many, it still falls short of the "game-changer" billing. Conclusion: A Soft Launch in a Hard World GPT-5's debut offers a cautionary tale in AI development: technical prowess isn't enough. Expectations are sky-high, and the margin for error is shrinking. Users want speed, accuracy, personality, and control -- and they want it all the time. OpenAI now faces the twin challenge of managing those expectations while continuing to iterate on a product that is, for all its flaws, still at the frontier of AI. The company's rollout strategy may need as much fine-tuning as the model itself. Because if this is the future of AI... it might need a patch.

OpenAI's Rollout of GPT-5 Is Going Terribly

On Thursday, OpenAI officially revealed GPT-5 to the world. The much-hyped presentation was sparse on many specific benchmarks comparing GPT-5 to its past models, but OpenAI's staff was adamant: this model is the best, most knowledgeable, and most powerful one to date. Many of the users who have been test driving GPT-5 in the 24 hours since, however, disagree. A visit to r/ChatGPT is enough to see the scope of the situation: The front page is full of posts complaining about the current state of the model, including: "GPT-5 is the biggest [piece] of garbage even as a paid user," "OpenAI just pulled the biggest bait-and-switch in AI history and I'm done," and "ChatGPT-5 rollout is an unmitigated disaster." One of the most prominent complaints concerns OpenAI's decision to deprecate previous models, something the company announced unceremoniously during the GPT-5 presentation. GPT-4o, o3, 4.5, and other models are no longer available to use. Going forward, users will only have access to GPT-5 and its subsequent models (e.g. GPT-5 mini). Many users are upset that OpenAI took away previous models overnight with zero warning, especially when they feel the replacement doesn't offer the same experience. Some have even canceled their subscriptions as a result. I know people use ChatGPT for therapy, and I'm aware that people have formed deep attachments to the technology, but I'll admit, I was a bit shocked to read some of the emotional reactions to losing access to these models. In one post, a user detailed how they relied on individual models for different tasks: They'd use 4o for creative ideas, o3 for logic problems, o3-Pro for deep research, and 4.5 for tasks related to writing. Another user talked about how they used 4o to help with their anxiety and depression, as, in their view, the model felt "human." They believe people are grieving the loss of 4o, which tracks, at least with some other 4o-specific posts. There are people out there who really like these models, and are distraught following their removal. But beyond mourning, some users just think GPT-5 isn't very good. If you ask the model how many times the letter "b" occurs in the word "blueberry," it reportedly says "three": once at the beginning, once in the word "blue," and once in "berry." This isn't necessarily a new problem -- LLMs have had trouble spelling "strawberry" as well -- but its not a great look for OpenAI's "best" model ever. One X user highlighted an example of GPT-5's inability to solve a "simple linear equation," versus Google's Gemini 2.5's ability to solve it without issue, while this user posted GPT-5's generation of a map of the United States, with most of the states labeled with gibberish. Some users teased OpenAI over its vague benchmarking data. Rhys on X sarcastically posted "these gpt-5 numbers are insane," and attached a graph that charted each GPT version by number (GPT-1 lands at "1" on the Y axis, GPT-2 at "2," and so on until you reach GPT-5 at "5." This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed. There are also criticisms of auto-switching, one of GPT-5's core features. Free and Plus ChatGPT users aren't able to choose the specific model, but in OpenAI's view, that's a good thing. GPT-5 is supposed to be intelligent enough to pick the right model for you based on your query: simple questions use weaker models, while more complex requests use most powerful models. But if OpenAI is so sure that's a good thing, why does it still offer the ability to manually switch models, so long as you pay $200 per month for a Pro plan? Not everyone agrees that GPT-5 is bad, mind you. There are users who appear to be enjoying the model, appreciating the concise responses and fast performance. But the majority of discourse I'm seeing on social media and forums is neutral to negative. Even posts that at first seem positive end up criticizing the model: This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed. Since starting this piece, OpenAI has responded to the backlash. CEO Sam Altman posted a series of updates on X that seem to backtrack a bit on the decisions users have criticized most severely: Rate limits will double for ChatGPT Plus users for now; GPT-5 should seem smarter starting today; it will be easy to see which model is answering a given query; and manually choosing the thinking model will be more simple. Altman also acknowledged the initial rollout is going slower than expected, which makes sense since I still don't have access to the new model. But the biggest announcement of the bunch should come as welcome news to many users: 4o is back, at least for Plus users. If you pay $20 a month for ChatGPT, you can keep using 4o for the time being. Altman says the company is watching usage, and will make a decision on how long it will offer legacy models for in the future. I'm curious how users respond going forward: Will those who canceled resubscribe to keep using 4o? Then again, why bother, if OpenAI is planning on taking away that model again sometime in the future? One thing's for sure: This likely isn't how OpenAI expected GPT-5's rollout to go.

Thousands trash GPT-5 on Reddit, saying ChatGPT's big update is 'horrible'

OpenAI's GPT-5 launch has sparked widespread user backlash, with complaints flooding Reddit within hours. Users are decrying the removal of older models, stricter usage limits, and perceived performance decline compared to GPT-4o. The update's shortcomings, coupled with CEO Sam Altman's hype, have left many ChatGPT Plus subscribers feeling shortchanged and questioning the value of their subscriptions. The most recent AI update from OpenAI, GPT-5, was supposed to be a step forward, but for many ChatGPT users, it feels like a step back. Within hours of launching, Reddit was flooded with complaints from unhappy users. The update has gotten a lot of bad press because it took away features and made limits stricter. Thousands on Reddit calling the update "horrible." People are complaining about the lack of older models, stricter usage limits, and what they think is poor performance. Many people think GPT-5 is a step back, despite CEO Sam Altman's hype. This raises concerns that the AI giant is losing its loyal fans, as per a report by TechRadar. The criticism is loud and widespread. A Reddit thread titled "GPT-5 is horrible" received nearly 3,000 upvotes and over 1,200 comments. Users complain that GPT-5 is less responsive, slower, and less accurate than the previous GPT-4o series. The comments range from light sarcasm to outright frustration. One user mocked the launch demo, saying, "If something goes wrong, don't worry; just ask again. I'm going to run three prompts simultaneously and choose my favorite. "So, how is that better?" Another compared it to "AI shrinkflation," in which features disappear but the price remains constant. The impact on paying customers is a major source of concern. ChatGPT Plus subscribers, who previously had access to a variety of models such as o4-mini and o4-mini-high, are now limited to GPT-5's one-size-fits-all approach. Worse, the new GPT-5 "Thinking" model has a hard limit of 200 messages per week. For power users, this represents a significant reduction in functionality, making the Plus subscription appear far less valuable. Many users want the old models reinstated until GPT-5's bugs are fixed. As one Redditor stated, "I miss 4.1. Bring it back. ALSO READ: Whataburger marks 75 years today with a big Texas celebration- here's how to get your Whataburgers for 75-cents Part of the outrage stems from the massive hype surrounding GPT-5's release. Hours before the announcement, Altman teased the model with a dramatic tweet featuring the Death Star from Star Wars looming over a planet, implying a game-changing reveal. While GPT-5 outperforms previous models in technical benchmarks, the differences appear to be minimal for everyday users. Many people prefer the dependability and familiarity of GPT-4o over GPT-5's sometimes erratic responses. OpenAI has yet to respond to widespread criticism in detail. However, with paying subscribers expressing buyer's remorse, the company must make a critical decision: either fine-tune GPT-5 quickly or risk losing users to competing AI platforms. For the time being, the online sentiment is clear: the GPT-5 launch was less than spectacular. And unless improvements are made soon, OpenAI's most significant update may be remembered for the wrong reasons. Why are users upset with GPT-5? They say it removed older models, added limits, and feels worse than previous versions. What's different for ChatGPT Plus subscribers? They now face weekly message caps and have lost access to older AI models.