OpenAI cancels standalone o3 AI model in favour of a ‘unified’ next-gen release

OpenAI has effectively cancelled the release of o3, which was to be its next major standalone AI model, in favour of a “simplified” product offering, CEO Sam Altman announced on Wednesday.

“We will release GPT-5 as a system that integrates a lot of our technology, including o3,” he said in a post on X.



Altman stated that the company’s primary focus is to unify o-series models and GPT-series models by "creating systems" that can utilise all of their tools, know when to think for a long time or not, and "generally be useful for a very wide range of tasks."

“We want to do a better job of sharing our intended roadmap, and a much better job simplifying our product offerings. We want AI to “just work” for you; we realise how complicated our model and product offerings have gotten,” Altman wrote in the post.

“We hate the model picker (in ChatGPT) as much as you do and want to return to magic unified intelligence,” he added.

In the ‘OpenAI Roadmap’, he also revealed the company’s plans to offer unlimited chat access to GPT-5 at the “standard intelligence setting,” subject to “abuse thresholds.”

“Plus subscribers will be able to run GPT-5 at a higher level of intelligence, and Pro subscribers will be able to run GPT-5 at an even higher level of intelligence,” he said.

In addition, these models will incorporate “voice, canvas, search, deep research, and more.”

However, Altman did not provide a timeline for the release of the products.

One particular user asked, “Any ETA for GPT 4.5 / GPT 5 @sama? Weeks? Months?”, to which he replied, “weeks / months.”


OpenAI unveiled their o3 and o3 mini models in December 2024.