Computational Costs AI News & Updates
OpenAI to Discontinue Its Largest Model GPT-4.5 from API Due to Cost Concerns
OpenAI announced it will phase out GPT-4.5, its largest-ever AI model, from its API by July 14, just months after its February release. The company is positioning the newly launched GPT-4.1 as the preferred replacement, citing similar or improved performance at a much lower cost. GPT-4.5 will remain available in ChatGPT for paying customers, but its high computational expenses have made it unsustainable for broader API access.
Skynet Chance (-0.03%): The discontinuation of OpenAI's largest model from wider API access suggests that economic constraints still meaningfully limit the deployment of the most capable AI systems, providing a natural barrier against widespread access to the most advanced capabilities.
Skynet Date (+1 days): The prohibitive cost of running OpenAI's largest model indicates that computational efficiency remains a significant bottleneck, potentially slowing the development and deployment of increasingly capable AI systems until more cost-effective solutions emerge.
AGI Progress (-0.03%): The early discontinuation of GPT-4.5 from the API suggests that simply scaling up models has reached a point of diminishing returns relative to cost, indicating that pure scaling approaches may be hitting economic limitations in advancing toward AGI.
AGI Date (+2 days): The economic infeasibility of maintaining OpenAI's largest model in production suggests that computational constraints may slow the deployment of increasingly large models, potentially extending the timeline for reaching AGI through scaling approaches.