The launch of OpenAI's GPT-4.5 will begin for ChatGPT Plus subscribers in the coming days.
The delay is due to a shortage of graphics processors.
Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, announced that the rollout of GPT-4.5 is "likely" to begin deploying for ChatGPT Plus subscribers "over the course of several days" rather than through a massive launch. In his message, he emphasized the importance of patience from users. Altman mentioned in his post that there is no perfect method for this rollout. Although his intention was to launch the update for everyone at the same time, this would have severely limited the usage rate, which would not be optimal. "We believe that people are going to use this a lot and they're going to love it. That's why we think it's better to allow people to have long and real conversations with the model, which means we need to onboard users gradually," said Altman.
GPT-4.5, introduced last Thursday, represents the latest version of OpenAI's language model and is expected to be the last one not using chain-of-thought prompts. This approach seeks to simulate human reasoning by breaking down complex tasks into logical steps, something that GPT-4.5 has not yet achieved, although OpenAI claims that interactions with this version "feel more natural." The company highlighted that the new features of GPT-4.5 include a broader knowledge base, better ability to follow user intent, and greater emotional intelligence, making it useful for tasks such as writing enhancement, programming, and practical problem-solving. Furthermore, the model is expected to generate fewer "hallucinations."
Despite these improvements, Altman has wanted to temper expectations, clarifying that GPT-4.5 "is not a reasoning model and will not surpass benchmarks." The gradual rollout of GPT-4.5 is not surprising, as the CEO had previously commented that the lack of graphics processing units (GPUs) had prevented a simultaneous implementation for all ChatGPT Plus and Pro subscribers. Thus, ChatGPT Pro subscribers were the first to access the new version, while the Pro subscription costs $200 per month, compared to the $20 per month for the Plus subscription. Altman also indicated that next week they will add tens of thousands of GPUs to launch the version for Plus-level subscribers, with hundreds of thousands more available in the near future.
