Users report shorter, less impressive answers and reduced functionality, fueling backlash even among paid ChatGPT Plus subscribers. (Image Source: Meta AI)
Within 24 hours of GPT-5’s launch on Thursday, social media platforms—especially Reddit—were inundated with posts expressing dissatisfaction with OpenAI’s latest AI model. With more than 4,500 upvotes and 1,700 comments, the Reddit topic "GPT-5 is bad" swiftly gained popularity as many users criticized the new model's features and performance.
Users lamented that GPT-5 often provides shorter responses and does not seem to improve over its predecessor, GPT-4o. One user sarcastically pointed out the demo’s approach: “If it gets something wrong, no worries, just ask again… I’m actually going to run 3 prompts at once and pick my favorite. Like, how is that better?” Another likened the update to “Shrinkflation,” implying a downgrade masked as a new release.
The backlash isn’t limited to casual users. Users of ChatGPT Plus, who pay for more access, have also expressed worry that GPT-5 restricts rather than increases capability. TechCrunch reported that the GPT-5 “Thinking” model is capped at 200 messages per week, and Plus subscribers no longer have access to the broad range of AI models previously available.
"ChatGPT literally became worse for every single Plus member today," read a post on X (previously Twitter), which encapsulated the sentiment.The perceived devaluation and limits have made the growing discontent worse.
Many users long for the AI's previous iterations, particularly GPT-4o and 4.1, which they believe provided superior performance and usability. Online discussions now frequently contain comments like "I miss 4.1." Bring it back and recommend that OpenAI should let users "keep the previous models while they repair the new one."
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Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla and SpaceX and founder of xAI, weighed in on the controversy by taking a jab at OpenAI’s GPT-5. Musk claimed that his company’s AI model, Grok 4 Heavy, was already “smarter” two weeks ago than GPT-5 is now and insisted that Grok 4 Heavy is “already a lot better.”
The billionaire’s comments have resonated with many in the tech community and added to the narrative that GPT-5 is underperforming relative to expectations.
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and his team had introduced GPT-5 in a detailed hour-long broadcast, highlighting new features and improvements over GPT-4o. On the other hand, the rapid and widespread criticism suggests that many customers do not think these changes meet their needs.
It remains to be seen if OpenAI will resolve these problems by restoring previous models, removing some features, or releasing upgrades to improve GPT-5's capabilities. For the time being, the criticism is a sobering reminder that even the most sophisticated AI models need to consistently demonstrate their worth to a discriminating user base.
