OpenAI Rolls Back ChatGPT’s Model Router System for Most Users

OpenAI Rolls Back ChatGPT's Model Router System for Most Users

In a move that signals a shift in strategy, OpenAI has quietly reversed a major change to how hundreds of millions of people use ChatGPT. The company has rolled back the model router, an automated system that sends complicated user questions to more advanced "reasoning" models, for users on its Free and $5-a-month Go tiers. Instead, those users will now default to GPT-5.2 Instant, the fastest and cheapest-to-serve version of OpenAI's new model series.

The Model Router: A Controversial Experiment

The model router launched just four months ago as part of OpenAI's push to unify the user experience with the debut of GPT-5. The feature analyzes user questions before choosing whether ChatGPT answers them with a fast-responding, cheap-to-serve AI model or a slower, more expensive reasoning AI model. Ideally, the router is supposed to direct users to OpenAI's smartest AI models exactly when they need them.

However, in practice, the router seemed to send many more free users to OpenAI's advanced reasoning models, which are more expensive for OpenAI to serve. Shortly after its launch, CEO Sam Altman said the router increased usage of reasoning models among free users from less than 1 percent to 7 percent. It was a costly bet aimed at improving ChatGPT's answers, but the model router was not as widely embraced as OpenAI expected.

The Impact on User Experience

One source familiar with the matter tells WIRED that the router negatively affected the company's daily active users metric. While reasoning models are widely seen as the frontier of AI performance, they can spend minutes working through complex questions at significantly higher computational cost. Most consumers don't want to wait, even if it means getting a better answer.

Fast-responding AI models continue to dominate in general consumer chatbots, according to Chris Clark, the chief operating officer of AI inference provider OpenRouter. On these platforms, he says, the speed and tone of responses tend to be paramount.

"If somebody types something, and then you have to show thinking dots for 20 seconds, it's just not very engaging," says Clark. "For general AI chatbots, you're competing with Google [Search]. Google has always focused on making Search as fast as possible; they were never like, 'Gosh, we should get a better answer, but do it slower.'"

OpenAI's Decision to Roll Back the Model Router

An OpenAI spokesperson tells WIRED that the company determined, based on user feedback, that Free and Go users preferred staying in the default chat experience, with the option to manually select a reasoning experience when needed. OpenAI declined to specify which user signals informed that decision. The company also said its Instant models can now take more time to answer questions, much like its reasoning models, narrowing the gap for most users.

The Future of Model Routing

The model router still exists for ChatGPT's paid subscribers, including its $20-a-month Plus or $200-a-month Pro tiers, signaling that the company is still committed to the idea. Robert Nishihara, cofounder of the AI training and inference platform Anyscale, says he expects model routers to stick around in the long term, even if the versions available today aren't perfect.

"Fundamentally, using different models and amounts of computational power is appropriate for different problems," says Nishihara. "No matter what happens in the short term, I expect routing to continue to be right."

Implications for the AI Industry

The change comes as OpenAI scrambles to shore up ChatGPT amid intensifying competition, particularly from Google. Last month, Altman announced a company-wide "code red" to marshal resources around improving its core consumer product. While ChatGPT is a juggernaut in the AI space, with more than 800 million weekly active users, OpenAI CFO Sarah Friar reportedly told investors that the amount of time users spend on the platform has dipped slightly following recent content restrictions.

Third-party data suggests competitive pressure is mounting. According to audience-tracking firm SimilarWeb, Google Gemini has grown significantly in recent months, while ChatGPT's growth has flattened. SimilarWeb's vice president of data and DaaS product, Omri Shtayer, tells WIRED that average visit duration on ChatGPT has fallen below Gemini since September.

Conclusion

The roll back of the model router is a significant shift in strategy for OpenAI, and it signals a greater focus on user experience and engagement. While the company is still committed to the idea of model routing, it is clear that the current implementation was not meeting user expectations. As the AI industry continues to evolve, it will be interesting to see how OpenAI and other companies adapt to changing user needs and preferences.

Source: https://www.wired.com/story/openai-router-relaunch-gpt-5-sam-altman/