OpenAI Plans Tiered Access for GPT-5 Release

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman announced the company's roadmap for releasing the GPT-4.5 and GPT-5 models, aiming to streamline and simplify the AI model selection process for users. The GPT-4.5 model, internally called Orion, will be the last non-chain-of-thought model, marking a transition towards more sophisticated reasoning capabilities with future models. Altman emphasized the integration of the o-series and GPT-series models into a unified system, which would allow users to access all available tools without selecting specific models. GPT-5 is expected to include various technologies like o3 and will be available in a tiered access system, providing free users with standard intelligence settings and higher-level settings for subscribers. This initiative follows competitive pressures from China's DeepSeek, which developed a powerful AI model that caught the industry off guard. OpenAI's efforts to consolidate its offerings aim for improved user experience, where AI 'just works' without the complexity of model selection.