OpenAI has officially launched its latest generative AI model, GPT-4.5, on February 27, 2025, heralded as the organization’s "largest and most knowledgeable model yet." This release has been long anticipated, especially by users who subscribe to ChatGPT Pro, who can access it as part of this research preview.
According to OpenAI's own statements, early interactions with GPT-4.5 feel more intuitive and natural than its predecessors. The model boasts a broader knowledge base, stronger alignment with user intentions, and what OpenAI describes as "greater emotional intelligence" (EQ). These enhancements aim to facilitate tasks such as writing, programming, and problem-solving, with users benefiting from fewer instances of hallucinations—where AI generates incorrect or misleading information.
CEO Sam Altman highlighted the significant improvements, stating, “GPT-4.5 is the largest model we’ve built and shows higher emotional intelligence.” This sentiment was echoed by research lead Alex Paino, who indicated this model was developed using advanced techniques to maximize unsupervised learning, allowing for richer conversational contexts and connections.
The introduction of GPT-4.5 also sees OpenAI doubling down on its training processes. Historically, significant leaps—in both performance and capability—came from scaling up data and computational power during the pre-training phase, and GPT-4.5 follows suit by adopting this methodology. Trained on Microsoft Azure AI supercomputers, the model reflects substantial advancements brought by this scaling approach.
Pricing for users also reflects GPT-4.5's premium status, as it will cost significantly more than previous models. OpenAI has set the ChatGPT Pro subscription at $200 per month to access GPT-4.5. For developers, the costs are similarly steep, with OpenAI charging $75 for every million input tokens and $150 for every million output tokens.
While GPT-4.5 promises enhancements, it also faces some hurdles. Altman clarified, "This isn’t a reasoning model and won’t crunch benchmarks," indicating its role as distinct from the reasoning models, denoted under OpenAI's "o" series. Despite these limitations, GPT-4.5 is said to outperform its predecessor, GPT-4o, as well as newer models on various benchmarks like SimpleQA, where it demonstrates improved accuracy and reduced hallucination rates.
Even as GPT-4.5 builds on the temporal successes of previous models, it appears some gains from scaling may have begun to plateau. Newer reasoning models developed by competitors, like offerings from DeepSeek and Anthropic, show impressive capabilities on several AI benchmarks, prompting questions about how sustainable the scaling methodology will be. OpenAI appears aware of this, with Altman pointing out the intention to integrate frontiers of reasoning with upcoming models, including the anticipated GPT-5.
The unique blend of features within GPT-4.5 positions it as OpenAI's attempt to create tools more aligned with human interaction—not merely issuing responses but engaging users on a more emotional and intuitive level. Mia Glaese, who heads OpenAI’s alignment operations, notes, "If you know more things, you don’t need to make things up," highlighting the improved training methodologies aimed at reducing falsehoods.
For the moment, GPT-4.5 is available to ChatGPT Pro subscribers, with plans to expand access to ChatGPT Plus and Team subscriptions over the next few weeks, and to enterprise and educational users thereafter. This staggered rollout is partly due to GPU shortages as the company manages rapid user growth alongside performance requests.
Reflecting on the industry's dynamics, OpenAI's streaming of advancements amid increasing competition from AI startups indicates both resilience and adaptation to market pressures. The release of GPT-4.5 stands as more than just another product launch; it’s part of OpenAI’s broader strategy to combine their large language models with reasoning capabilities, as they explore the potential of reaching artificial general intelligence capabilities.
With the tech field moving rapidly, the reaction to GPT-4.5 will likely provide insights not only for users but also for competitors and stakeholders invested in the future of AI. OpenAI, characterized as one of the most highly prized technology startups globally, continues to redefine its narrative even amid challenges, as it aims to deliver the next wave of AI innovations.