OpenAI has told developers it will officially sunset API access to the widely used GPT-4o model in February 2026, marking the end of one of the company’s most popular multimodal systems. The notice, sent by email to API customers, signals a new shift in OpenAI’s product strategy as it pushes developers toward newer unified model families.

The decision affects users of the “chatgpt-4o-latest” endpoint, which became a favorite among developers for its balance of speed, cost efficiency, and strong multimodal capabilities. GPT-4o powered everything from customer-service bots to enterprise automation tools, and the announcement has sparked concern across developer communities that rely on its predictable performance.

OpenAI has not publicly detailed the full reasoning behind the retirement, but the move follows a broader pattern within the company. Older models are gradually being phased out in favor of consolidated “Omni” systems that offer improved reasoning, faster response times, and better alignment with enterprise-grade safety requirements. Developers are being directed to migrate workloads to newer versions before the February cutoff to avoid service disruption.

The company emphasized that updated models provide higher reliability and better performance across text, vision, and audio tasks. Still, some developers say the shift will require rebuilding pipelines, retraining integrations, and adjusting cost structures, especially for teams that optimized their systems around GPT-4o’s behavior.

The retirement also highlights a fast-moving competitive landscape in AI infrastructure, where models age quickly and companies streamline offerings to reduce operational overhead. For businesses running large-scale applications, the timeline creates pressure to migrate early to ensure stability.

As February 2026 approaches, OpenAI is expected to provide additional migration tools and documentation, but developers will need to prepare for the end of one of the most widely adopted models of the past two years.