OpenAI is making significant changes to its rollout strategy for future AI models, as CEO Sam Altman announced on social media this past Friday. The highly anticipated launch of the GPT-5 large language model (LLM) will be postponed in favor of introducing lighter reasoning models, specifically the o3 and o4-mini, which are set to debut in the coming weeks.

In a candid post on X, formerly known as Twitter, Altman expressed his enthusiasm for the adjustments, stating, “There are a bunch of reasons for this, but the most exciting one is that we are going to be able to make GPT-5 much better than we originally thought.” This signals a commitment to not only improve the model’s capabilities but also to ensure a smoother integration into the existing framework.

Altman further elaborated on the challenges the company has encountered during the development phase, noting, “We also found it harder than we thought it was going to be to smoothly integrate everything, and we want to make sure we have enough capacity to support what we expect to be unprecedented demand.” While OpenAI has refrained from providing a precise timeline for the GPT-5 rollout, Altman assured users that it should be available within the next few months.

Previously, there were strong indications that GPT-5 could have been ready for release as early as May. However, a series of unforeseen developments have influenced this timeline. TechRadar highlighted that OpenAI’s ChatGPT service recently experienced an explosive growth in user engagement, with its user base skyrocketing from 400 million to an astonishing 500 million in a matter of hours. This surge followed a viral design trend linked to its latest GPT-4o image generation update, demonstrating the platform’s increasing popularity.

While the anticipation surrounding GPT-5 remains high, the introduction of the lighter reasoning models is expected to facilitate the groundwork for the major rollout. TechRadar also pointed out that once the o3 and o4-mini models are operational, OpenAI will offer additional products labeled o4 and 4o within the ChatGPT ecosystem. Although this may create some confusion among users, the forthcoming GPT-5 model aims to enhance user experience by enabling automatic selection of the best model tailored to their specific tasks.

It is important to note that users on the free tier of ChatGPT will have limited access to the forthcoming GPT-5 model. Conversely, subscribers of the Plus and Pro tiers will experience the full benefits of these developments, allowing them to leverage the powerful capabilities of the upcoming model more effectively.