ChatGPT has been forced to partially roll back a major new update after users revolted.
Last week, ChatGPT creators OpenAI unveiled GPT-5, a new version of the model that powers the chatbot. In advance of the release, OpenAI boss Sam Altman and others had attempted to suggest that the new release would be revolutionary and could lead to major changes in the world.
The response has however been muted and some users have suggested that the new version of GPT is actually less useful than its predecessor, GPT-4o.
What’s more, the new release removed some features. Previously, for instance, users had been able to select between different models depending on what they wanted – but GPT-5 brings a “router” that attempts to do that automatically.
Some also complained that the tone of the new model was unsatisfactory. Users who felt they had built a relationship with the old model suggested that the update had meant that using the system was less satisfactory.
Now, Mr Altman has said that the company will partially roll back the update, giving users the option to select older models. He recognised that it was partly a result of the emotional relationship that some users have built with the system.
“If you have been following the GPT-5 rollout, one thing you might be noticing is how much of an attachment some people have to specific AI models. It feels different and stronger than the kinds of attachment people have had to previous kinds of technology (and so suddenly deprecating old models that users depended on in their workflows was a mistake),” he wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter.
In another post, he said that the company “for sure underestimated how much some of the things that people like in GPT-4o matter to them, even if GPT-5 performs better in most ways”. He noted there were “very different opinions on the relative strength of GPT-4o vs GPT-5”.
A new update means that users can open the settings on ChatGPT and select an option to “show legacy models”.
Mr Altman also said that OpenAI would be looking to finish the rollout of the new GPT-5 and then respond to the complaints that users have about the new model. That would include making it “warmer”, he said.
On social media, many users complained that GPT-5’s responses are less kind, or affectionate, that in its predecessors. In one Reddit post, for instance, a user called the old system “my baby” and said they had been brought to tears by the change.
