ChatGPT users who aren’t paying for one of the higher-tiered subscriptions are going to have to talk to OpenAI’s cheapest AI model. Wired spotted a recent update in the release notes for ChatGPT that indicates free users and ChatGPT Go subscribers will now have their prompts served to the GPT-5.2 Instant model by default and will no longer have more complicated queries routed to more powerful models.
In an update dated December 11, OpenAI indicated that it is “removing automatic model switching for reasoning in ChatGPT” for free and Go users. “Previously, some questions were automatically routed to the Thinking model when ChatGPT determined it might help. To maximize choice, free users will now use GPT-5.2 Instant by default, and can still choose to use reasoning anytime by selecting Thinking from the tools menu in the message composer.”
Gizmodo reached out to OpenAI for additional details on the change, including whether free and Go users will have any other limitations on their accounts. We will update this post if we hear back.
Free and Go users, who pay $5 per month for a limited subscription plan that is only available to users in certain regions, will still be able to access ChatGPT’s Thinking model, but will have to do so manually—and presumably will have to make that change on every visit. OpenAI describes its Instant model as a “powerful workhorse for everyday work and learning,” whereas Thinking “solves harder work tasks more effectively and with more polish.”
The change is something that OpenAI can position as a quality-of-life improvement for users, who were in revolt over the company’s decision to automatically route users to a model based on their query. Back when the company rolled out GPT-5, frequent users of ChatGPT were frustrated by the “lobotomized” version of the chatbot that had significantly less “personality.” Earlier this year, CEO Sam Altman conceded, “We hate the model picker as much as you do.”
But it’s also noteworthy that the change is a cost-saving measure for OpenAI, which is almost certainly banking on the fact that a significant chunk of free users aren’t going to look at the model they are using and will go along with the company filtering them into its cheapest available option.
The cost-saving measure for the company could come at a cost to users. Previously, OpenAI said it would route sensitive queries to its reasoning model as it displayed better responses when interacting with users showing signs of mental distress. It’s no longer doing that, in part on the grounds that GPT-5.2 Instant is now better equipped to handle those situations. Hopefully, the company is right about that.
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