On February 27, 2025, OpenAI made a significant announcement with the launch of GPT-4.5. Described as the company’s “largest and best model for chat yet,” this new AI system begins as a research preview. It will be available exclusively to ChatGPT Pro subscribers, with plans to expand to Plus, Team, Enterprise, and Edu users in the coming weeks.
Internally codenamed “Orion,” GPT-4.5 represents a major evolution in OpenAI’s ChatGPT family. The model emphasizes scaled pre-training and post-training, resulting in improved performance and efficiency. Its strengths lie in enhanced pattern recognition, creative insights, and more natural dialogue. This makes GPT-4.5 a powerful tool for writing, coding, and problem-solving, though it doesn’t quite match the advanced reasoning of OpenAI’s “o-series” models.
The new model introduces several notable improvements. Users can expect a more natural conversational flow, broader knowledge base, better intent alignment, and a higher level of emotional intelligence. While not a complete breakthrough, OpenAI has positioned GPT-4.5 as an accessible AI that appeals to both casual users and professionals seeking cutting-edge assistance.
Practical enhancements include real-time search, file and image uploads, and a new “canvas” mode designed for collaborative writing and coding. However, the model has limitations. It does not support full multimodality, meaning features like Voice Mode, video, and screen sharing remain exclusive to other models such as GPT-4o.
Pricing and availability reflect OpenAI’s strategic rollout. ChatGPT Pro subscribers, who pay $200 per month, get first access. Plus and Team users at $20 per month will follow next week, with Enterprise and Edu users coming shortly after. Microsoft has also introduced a preview via Azure AI Foundry, highlighting the deepening partnership between OpenAI and the tech giant.
OpenAI’s CEO Sam Altman has been candid about the model’s scale and challenges. He described GPT-4.5 as a “giant, expensive model” trained on unprecedented computational resources. This is reflected in its API pricing; $75 per million input tokens and $150 per million output tokens.
The model is not without its limitations. While it has a lower hallucination rate than some predecessors, AI hallucinations still persist. Altman acknowledged the ongoing GPU shortage, promising to add “tens of thousands of GPUs” to support the Plus tier. Importantly, OpenAI has clarified that GPT-4.5 is not a “frontier model.” Its strengths lie primarily in language processing rather than complex mathematical or scientific problem-solving.
Altman’s characterization of GPT-4.5 is telling. He described it as “the first model that feels like talking to a thoughtful person” but warned it “won’t crush benchmarks.” This positions the model as a crucial transitional step, a bridge between existing ChatGPT versions and the much-anticipated GPT-5.
The broader context is equally fascinating. OpenAI is preparing for its next major leap, with GPT-5 potentially arriving as soon as late May 2025. This upcoming model is expected to merge advanced reasoning capabilities with other technological advancements, aiming to create a “unified intelligence” system.
The AI landscape continues to evolve rapidly. Competitors like xAI, Grok 3, Anthropic, Claude, and DeepSeek AI are developing their own advanced models, challenging OpenAI’s market leadership. In this competitive environment, GPT-4.5 serves as a strategic move keeping OpenAI at the forefront while preparing users for the next generation of AI.