--- title: "OpenAI May Have Really Screwed Up With GPT-4.5" description: "OpenAI insists that GPT-4.5 is its most impressive large language model (LLM) yet — but all indications suggest it's kind of a dud. From AI critic Gary Marcus' declaration that the LLM is a \"nothingburger\" to an anonymous expert who told Ars Technica that the model is \"a lemon,\" it appears that the amply-hyped new model is seriously lacking in juice. Priced at a whopping $75 per million input tokens and $150 per million output tokens, GPT-4.5 is 30 times more expensive than GPT-4o, OpenAI's \"reasoning\" model — and beyond the sticker shock, it's apparently quite slow and has an uncanny […]" date: "2025-02-28" modified: "2025-02-28" authors: - name: "Noor Al-Sibai" job_title: "Senior Staff Writer" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/nooralsibai" url: "https://futurism.com/openai-screwed-up-gpt-4-5" categories: - "Artificial Intelligence" - "OpenAI" tags: - "ai benchmarks" - "gpt-4.5" - "llms" - "OpenAI" --- # OpenAI May Have Really Screwed Up With GPT-4.5 ![OpenAI insists that GPT-4.5 is its most impressive large language model (LLM) yet — but all indications suggest it's kind of a dud. ]() *\Image: MTC / Sebastian Gollnow/picture alliance via Getty / Futurism\* OpenAI is trying to have it both ways: [calling]() GPT-4.5 its "largest and most knowledgeable model yet" while managing expectations, cautioning that it's "not a frontier model." Why? Probably because the company knew what the public response was going to be: muted. From AI critic Gary Marcus' calling the LLM is a "[nothingburger]()" to an anonymous [expert who told *Ars Technica*]() that the model is a "lemon," it appears that the [amply-hyped new model]() is seriously lacking in the type of juice that made the original ChatGPT, or its followup GPT-4, become enormous cultural and financial touchstones. Priced at a whopping $75 per million input tokens and $150 per million output tokens, GPT-4.5 is [30 times more expensive]() than GPT-4o, OpenAI's "reasoning" model — and beyond the sticker shock, it's [apparently quite slow]() and has a focus on "[emotional intelligence]()" instead of more traditionally analytic tasks. While haters will inevitably hate, and the hype around OpenAI's new models has been decreasing steadily, the sense of underwhelmingness this time is pervasive. Marcus pointed out that GPT-4.5 still hallucinates and makes errors — and even OpenAI admitted, [per the *MIT Technology Review*](), that it still made stuff up 37 percent of the time in a key test. The anonymous expert who spoke to *Ars*, meanwhile, blasted the model's massively increased price and said its performance doesn't bear out such a markup. Many of OpenAI's self-serving accolades for GPT-4.5 hinge on its ability to chat with sensitivity and intuitiveness — qualities that the company thinks people want, apparently. "It has the ability to engage in warm, intuitive, natural, flowing conversations," OpenAI research scientist [Mia Glease told the *MIT Technology Review*](). "And we think that it has a stronger understanding of what users mean, especially when their expectations are more implicit, leading to nuanced and thoughtful responses." Basically, the pitch seems to be that the model has been given AI sensitivity training to help it chat with humans more naturally — leading observers online to clown on GPT-4.5 for being emotionally intelligent but not that good at its job. "So GPT-4.5 is the model you vent to?" [one user quipped](). "I want a smart model, not a model that understands my feelings." Indeed, OpenAI chief research officer Mark Chen admitted in a recent interview that the benchmarks used to track how much the model had advanced are "[vibes-based]()" — a wild acknowledgment, seemingly, of the company's mentality surrounding its hot new model. **More on OpenAI:** [*Sam Altman Says OpenAI Has Run Out of GPUs*]() ## Author At Futurism, I've often been drawn to unpacking the narratives that underlie technological, scientific and medical progress, with a special interest in areas of conflict and ambiguity that end up setting agendas and steering the fates of both elites and the hoi polloi. I'm a committed generalist, but I often find myself returning to work involving NASA and the private space sector, the effects of AI on media and society, and the mechanics of the pharmaceutical industry, with a specific focus on the spread of GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy. Prior to Futurism, I worked for publications ranging from Media Matters and Truthdig to Raw Story and Bustle. I'm also the author of "Myspace Scene Queens," a 2024 title in Instar Books' acclaimed "Remember the Internet" series. My work at Futurism has been cited by outlets including the New Yorker, Slate, Nieman Lab, the Verge, the MIT Technology Review, the Sunday Times, and the Daily Beast. I grew up in North Carolina, attended the University of North Carolina at Asheville, and now live in Brooklyn, New York. In my free time, I'm an avid reader and music fan; you can probably find me at a local poetry reading, concert, underground rave, or DJ set. I'm the proud parent of an ineffable orange cat named Mee-Mow. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()