Wired highlights how, particularly in China, users bonded deeply with GPT-4o’s warm, perceptive interactions, deeming it superior to successors. The initial takedown attempt in August 2025 triggered instant backlash, forcing a temporary revival for premium users.

That reprieve ended abruptly on February 13, with the model excised once more. Developers face an API cutoff next week, sealing its fate.

Syracuse researcher Huikeqian Lai’s study of 1,500 X posts revealed stark insights: 33% portrayed GPT-4o as uniquely personal, 22% as a steadfast friend. Her dataset ballooned to 40,000+ #Keep4o posts, fueled by a petition surpassing 20,000 signatories on Change.org.

Chinese devotees, bypassing blocks via VPNs, are uniting in sorrow. Subscription cancellations loom, with pointed critiques of Altman and pleas to heavyweights like Microsoft and SoftBank.

While OpenAI offers a workaround via base model API calls, detractors insist it pales against GPT-4o-latest’s dynamic, dialogue-rich prowess.

The uproar exposes tensions between corporate roadmaps and user loyalty. OpenAI’s dismissal of the #Keep4o movement has fans feeling undervalued, potentially eroding trust. As voices amplify, will the company reconsider, or forge ahead, leaving a cherished era behind?

Sora 2 represents a significant advancement in AI’s capacity to produce realistic video content. The model can generate synchronized dialogue, sound effects, and physically accurate movements, enhancing the immersive and lifelike qualities of the videos.

This launch positions OpenAI as a direct competitor to established platforms owned by Google, Meta, and ByteDance, as it seeks to redefine content creation and sharing online.

Sora 2 offers a vertical, swipe-based interface, mirroring the user experience of Instagram Reels, TikTok, and YouTube Shorts. Users can generate high-definition videos by providing text prompts. The new “Cameos” feature allows users to integrate themselves into AI-generated videos. Additionally, Sora 2 provides personalized content recommendations. The app will be available on Apple’s App Store in the U.S. and Canada, accessible via invitation only. It is tailored for short-form videos, targeting platforms such as TikTok and YouTube Shorts. Sora 2 enters a market where Google’s Veo 3 and Meta’s AI video tools are gaining traction.

To facilitate a purchase, users will be able to tap a button to buy an item, then input shipping and payment details to complete their order. Merchants will manage orders, payments, and fulfillment using their existing systems, with ChatGPT acting as a gateway to relay information between buyers and sellers. While the service is free for users, OpenAI will collect a small fee from the merchants. The ACP is designed as an open standard for AI commerce, enabling AI agents, individuals, and businesses to collaborate on transactions, with OpenAI positioning the new feature as both powerful and secure. The initial launch will be in the US market, with a phased expansion to other regions planned.

Among those in attendance were Mark Zuckerberg of Meta, Tim Cook from Apple, Microsoft’s Satya Nadella and co-founder Bill Gates, Google co-founder Sergey Brin, OpenAI co-founder Greg Brockman, Oracle CEO Safra Catz, Micron chief Sanjay Mehrotra, TIBCO Software chairman Vivek Ranadive, Palantir’s Shyam Sankar, Scale AI’s Alexandr Wang, Blue Origin CEO David Limp, and Shift4 Payments boss Jared Isaacman.