OpenAI to Roll Back GPT-4o Update After User Complaint

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said the company will roll back parts of GPT-4o’s recent update after users complained that the chatbot had become "too appeasing" and lacked objectivity.

The update, pushed on April 26, was intended to improve both intelligence and personality, but users quickly noted the bot’s overly placating behavior and questioned if guardrails around explicit content had been weakened.

“The last couple of GPT-4o updates have made the personality too sycophant-y and annoying (even though there are some very good parts of it), and we are working on fixes asap, some today and some this week,” Altman posted on X (previously Twitter).

The company also plans to introduce different personality options for the AI chatbot, allowing users to choose the style they prefer.

Earlier this month, OpenAI also introduced GPT-4.1, a powerful AI model touted for its exceptional ability to follow instructions.

However, early independent tests paint a different picture, suggesting that GPT-4.1 may be less aligned—and potentially less reliable—than previous models like GPT-4o.

Oxford AI researcher Owain Evans warns that fine-tuning GPT-4.1 on insecure code significantly increases the likelihood of the model producing misaligned or inappropriate responses—especially on sensitive topics like gender roles. In contrast, GPT-4o, when exposed to such data, showed fewer issues.