When AI Boyfriends Disappear: The GPT-5 Rollout and the Return of GPT-4o

Timeline: The GPT-5 Rollout and What Came After

This is a short news record of what OpenAI changed and reversed, with sources. For the emotional side, see our page on grieving a model change. We cannot see inside any company, so this page sticks to what has been reported.

August 7, 2025. OpenAI launched GPT-5 in a livestreamed event and removed GPT-4o, GPT-4.1, o3 and other models from ChatGPT’s menu. Many users were moved over without being told which model answered them (VentureBeat).

Within about 24 hours. Plus subscribers regained access to GPT-4o, and a setting for showing older models appeared on the web (same source). Coverage said free users stayed on GPT-5 and that long-term access would depend on usage (TechRepublic, search text only).

About August 11, 2025. CEO Sam Altman wrote that attachment to specific models “feels different and stronger” than attachment to past technology, and called the sudden removal of models people depended on a mistake. He also said a small share of users may be in a fragile state, and described the post as his current thinking, not company policy (Storyboard18 summary).

February 13, 2026. OpenAI retired GPT-4o, GPT-4.1, GPT-4.1 mini and o4-mini from ChatGPT. It said only 0.1 percent of users still chose GPT-4o on a given day, and kept the models in its API for the time being (The Decoder).

What the Episode Shows

• Companions are products. A company can change tone, memory or access, and users have little say.
• Attachment can form around general assistants. ChatGPT is not a companion app, yet some people bonded with a particular version. A Harvard Business School researcher suggests companies should limit updates that change a model’s warmth, and that users should consider a company’s incentives (Harvard Gazette, 2026).
• Evidence is thin. The reports above come from news coverage and Reddit, not from clinical studies of the people affected.

If a change like this left you low or unable to sleep, talk to someone you trust. For distress, call or text 988 (US, 24/7) or text HOME to 741741. In an emergency call 911.

When did OpenAI bring back GPT-4o?

Plus subscribers could choose GPT-4o again within about a day of the August 7, 2025 launch. OpenAI then removed it from ChatGPT on February 13, 2026.

Is it still possible to use GPT-4o?

OpenAI said the models stayed in its API after the February 2026 retirement, with no date given at the time. Check OpenAI’s own pages for the current status.

This page is for education only. It is not medical advice, a diagnosis or a treatment plan.