OpenAI just launched GPT-5, the next generation of its powerful AI, but the celebration was short-lived. Less than 24 hours after its debut, social media sites like Reddit are flooded with users complaining that the new model is a major step backward.
A Reddit thread titled “GPT-5 is horrible” quickly gained thousands of upvotes, with comments from deeply dissatisfied users. Many feel the new AI is less capable than its predecessor, GPT-4o. “Sounds like an OpenAI version of ‘Shrinkflation, ‘” one user wrote. Another pointed to the launch demo, where the presenter had to run multiple prompts to get a good result, asking, “Like, how is that better?”
The backlash is especially strong among paying ChatGPT Plus subscribers. They feel cheated by the new release, which comes with a strict weekly message limit. OpenAI has also removed access to the older, more reliable models, claiming the new GPT-5 can handle everything on its own—a claim many users dispute.
Much of the frustration stems from the hype created by CEO Sam Altman himself. Hours before the launch, Altman tweeted a picture of the Death Star, hinting at a world-changing revolution. Instead, users feel they got a minor, incremental upgrade that, in many cases, performs worse than what they had before.
Many users are now calling for OpenAI to bring back the older models while it works out the kinks. The company now faces intense pressure to fix the bugs and address the complaints, or risk losing its loyal fanbase to competitors.
