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Deflating your ego

OpenAI rolls back update that made ChatGPT a sycophantic mess

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman says the super-positive update to GPT-4o is being pulled.

Ryan Whitwam – | 80
The OpenAI logo over a tectonic shift in the background.
Credit: Benj Edwards / OpenAI
Credit: Benj Edwards / OpenAI

ChatGPT users have become frustrated with the AI model's tone, and OpenAI is taking action. After widespread mockery of the robot's relentlessly positive and complimentary output recently, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman confirms the company will roll back the latest update to GPT-4o. So get ready for a more reserved and less sycophantic chatbot, at least for now.

GPT-4o is not a new model—OpenAI released it almost a year ago, and it remains the default when you access ChatGPT, but the company occasionally releases revised versions of existing models. As people interact with the chatbot, OpenAI gathers data on the responses people like more. Then, engineers revise the production model using a technique called reinforcement learning from human feedback (RLHF).

Recently, however, that reinforcement learning went off the rails. The AI went from generally positive to the world's biggest suck-up. Users could present ChatGPT with completely terrible ideas or misguided claims, and it might respond, "Wow, you're a genius," and "This is on a whole different level."

OpenAI seems to realize it missed the mark with its latest update, so it's undoing the damage. Altman says the company began pulling the latest 4o model last night, and the process is already done for free users. As for paid users, the company is still working on it, but the reversion should be finished later today (April 29). Altman promises to share an update once that's done. This move comes just a few days after Altman acknowledged that recent updates to the model made its personality "too sycophant-y and annoying."

In search of good vibes

OpenAI, along with competitors like Google and Anthropic, is trying to build chatbots that people want to chat with. So, designing the model's apparent personality to be positive and supportive makes sense—people are less likely to use an AI that comes off as harsh or dismissive. For lack of a better word, it's increasingly about vibemarking.

When Google revealed Gemini 2.5, the team crowed about how the model topped the LM Arena leaderboard, which lets people choose between two different model outputs in a blinded test. The models people like more end up at the top of the list, suggesting they are more pleasant to use. Of course, people can like outputs for different reasons—maybe one is more technically accurate, or the layout is easier to read. But overall, people like models that make them feel good. The same is true of OpenAI's internal model tuning work, it would seem.

An example of ChatGPT's overzealous praise.
Credit: /u/Talvy
An example of ChatGPT's overzealous praise. Credit: /u/Talvy

It's possible this pursuit of good vibes is pushing models to display more sycophantic behaviors, which is a problem. Anthropic's Alex Albert has cited this as a "toxic feedback loop." An AI chatbot telling you that you're a world-class genius who sees the unseen might not be damaging if you're just brainstorming. However, the model's unending praise can lead people who are using AI to plan business ventures or, heaven forbid, enact sweeping tariffs, to be fooled into thinking they've stumbled onto something important. In reality, the model has just become so sycophantic that it loves everything.

The constant pursuit of engagement has been a detriment to numerous products in the Internet era, and it seems generative AI is not immune. OpenAI's GPT-4o update is a testament to that, but hopefully, this can serve as a reminder for the developers of generative AI that good vibes are not all that matters.

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Ryan Whitwam Senior Technology Reporter
Ryan Whitwam is a senior technology reporter at Ars Technica, covering the ways Google, AI, and mobile technology continue to change the world. Over his 20-year career, he's written for Android Police, ExtremeTech, Wirecutter, NY Times, and more. He has reviewed more phones than most people will ever own. You can follow him on Bluesky, where you will see photos of his dozens of mechanical keyboards.
80 Comments
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Baeocystin
At least it's proof that the system instructions you can have as defaults do make a difference?

I have mine set to be more formal than average, and get more to the point, and hadn't really noticed much of a change, maybe a slight increase in cheerfulness, but still within acceptable norms. I removed my instructions after reading this article out of curiosity and holy shit, sycophancy doesn't even cover it. I really am shocked this ever got through production. That apparently so many people responded positively to the clearly exaggerated blowing smoke up one's ass kind of depresses me.
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