In an unusual display of transparency from Silicon Valley's most watched AI company, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman laid out their product roadmap—offering a direct look at its evolving strategy. In a post on X, Altman revealed plans to simplify OpenAI's increasingly complex model lineup, cancel the standalone o3 model, and introduce GPT-4.5 (codenamed Orion) as the final iteration before GPT-5. He also outlined significant changes coming to ChatGPT's pricing and access, including free, unlimited use of GPT-5 at a standard setting.
Key Points:
- GPT-4.5 (Orion) will be the last non-chain-of-thought model before GPT-5.
- Free ChatGPT users will get unlimited access to GPT-5 at a standard setting.
- GPT-5 will integrate o3 and feature voice, search, deep research, and more.
Altman acknowledged that OpenAI’s product lineup had become too complex, leading to user confusion. “We hate the model picker as much as you do and want to return to magic unified intelligence,” he wrote. Instead of requiring users to choose between different models for different tasks, OpenAI aims to create a system where AI “just works”—handling both fast and complex reasoning tasks as needed.
OPENAI ROADMAP UPDATE FOR GPT-4.5 and GPT-5:
— Sam Altman (@sama) February 12, 2025
We want to do a better job of sharing our intended roadmap, and a much better job simplifying our product offerings.
We want AI to “just work” for you; we realize how complicated our model and product offerings have gotten.
We hate…
GPT-4.5, referred to internally as Orion, is expected to launch in the coming weeks as the final model without chain-of-thought reasoning. Unlike OpenAI’s more advanced reasoning models, non-chain-of-thought AI is generally weaker in areas like math and physics. The shift toward reasoning-based models aligns with broader industry trends, where AI systems self-check their responses to improve reliability.
OpenAI is also making major changes to its subscription structure. Free users of ChatGPT will gain unlimited access to GPT-5 at a standard level, though with certain abuse thresholds in place. Meanwhile, Plus and Pro subscribers will have access to GPT-5 at progressively higher levels of intelligence, though Altman did not specify how these tiers would differ in capability.
GPT-5 will bring together several AI capabilities, including multimodal understanding, voice interactions, deep search functionality, and expanded agentic capabilities. With this shift, OpenAI is canceling the planned o3 model, opting to integrate its capabilities directly into GPT-5 instead.
This update comes amid growing competition in AI development, particularly from China’s DeepSeek, which has recently challenged OpenAI’s lead in AI performance benchmarks. In response, Altman hinted that OpenAI would accelerate its release timeline to stay ahead.