OpenAI Shows off GPT-4.5 but not for plus users yet!
San Francisco, CA – February 27, 2025 – OpenAI, the pioneering artificial intelligence research organization, has officially launched GPT-4.5, heralding a significant advancement in its quest to refine and enhance AI capabilities. Announced today on the company’s blog, GPT-4.5 is now available as a research preview within ChatGPT, marking it as OpenAI’s largest and most sophisticated model to date. This release comes just weeks after CEO Sam Altman outlined the company’s roadmap, signaling a strategic push toward simplifying and amplifying its AI offerings.
Building on the foundation of GPT-4o, GPT-4.5 is designed to deliver superior performance across a range of metrics. OpenAI describes it as a more natural, aligned, and accurate model, boasting fewer hallucinations and enhanced reasoning abilities compared to its predecessors. Early reports suggest it operates with ten times the efficiency of GPT-4, a leap attributed to expanded pre-training and innovative supervision techniques. The model also showcases stronger persuasive and creative capabilities, alongside improved proficiency in multilingual contexts, making it a versatile tool for global applications. With a massive 128k context length, GPT-4.5 is tailored for creative tasks and agentic planning, positioning it as a powerhouse for developers and researchers alike.
“We’re thrilled to introduce GPT-4.5 to the ChatGPT community,” OpenAI stated in its announcement. “This research preview allows us to gather insights and refine the model further, ensuring it meets the diverse needs of our users.” While specific technical details—such as the model’s size or training dataset—remain undisclosed, the emphasis on broader general-purpose functionality underscores OpenAI’s ambition to push AI boundaries while maintaining a focus on safety and interpretability.
However, the power of GPT-4.5 comes at a steep price, particularly for developers leveraging its API. OpenAI has set input costs at $75.00 per 1 million tokens, with cached inputs priced at $37.50 per 1 million tokens—a feature aimed at optimizing repeated queries. Output costs are even higher, ringing in at $150.00 per 1 million tokens. This pricing structure makes GPT-4.5 one of OpenAI’s most expensive models to date, reflecting its advanced capabilities but potentially limiting accessibility for smaller startups or independent developers. For context, a single million-token interaction (input and output combined) could cost upwards of $225.00, a significant jump from previous models like GPT-4o, which were notably more affordable. Critics on X have already dubbed it “a luxury AI,” with some questioning whether its performance justifies the premium.
The launch aligns with Altman’s recent comments on X, where he revealed that GPT-4.5, internally codenamed “Orion,” represents the final step in OpenAI’s non-chain-of-thought model series. Unlike future models, which will incorporate advanced reasoning capabilities akin to the o-series, GPT-4.5 prioritizes raw performance and efficiency. Altman also hinted at a forthcoming GPT-5, expected to unify OpenAI’s disparate model lines into a streamlined, tiered experience—a move aimed at reducing complexity for users.
Accessible initially to ChatGPT Pro subscribers, who pay $200 monthly for early feature access, GPT-4.5 reflects OpenAI’s tiered rollout strategy. While it’s unclear if ChatGPT Plus users will gain access, Altman has previously promised that free-tier users will eventually experience GPT-5, suggesting a potential broadening of availability down the line. For API users, the high costs may drive demand for cost-effective alternatives, especially as competitors like xAI, with its Grok 3 model, and emerging players like DeepSeek continue to gain traction.
The timing of the release—coinciding with today’s date of February 27, 2025—has sparked excitement across tech circles. Posts on X highlight key takeaways from a leaked “GPT-4.5 System Card,” noting its research preview status and its scaling beyond GPT-4o. Users and analysts are eager to test its capabilities, with some speculating it could set a new benchmark for AI-driven tasks, from creative writing to complex problem-solving—provided they can afford it.
As OpenAI continues to refine GPT-4.5 based on real-world feedback, the tech world watches closely. This latest iteration not only reinforces OpenAI’s leadership in AI innovation but also sets the stage for the unified, reasoning-driven GPT-5. For now, GPT-4.5 stands as a testament to the rapid evolution of artificial intelligence, promising a future where machines communicate, reason, and create with unprecedented finesse—albeit at a price that may keep it out of reach for many.
