OpenAI is expanding its model lineup with GPT-4.1, a new large language model that emphasizes practical performance at lower cost compared to reasoning-focused models. This strategic release demonstrates OpenAI’s approach to creating a tiered product ecosystem, balancing premium capabilities for paying customers while maintaining accessibility through free options. The deployment to ChatGPT users shows OpenAI responding to market demand for models initially designed for API developers.
The big picture: OpenAI is rolling out GPT-4.1 and GPT-4.1 mini to ChatGPT users through a phased deployment that prioritizes paying customers.
- Paid subscription tiers (Plus, Pro, and Team) receive access first, with Enterprise and Education users gaining access in the coming weeks.
- GPT-4.1 mini replaces GPT-4o mini as the default model for all ChatGPT users, including those on the free tier.
Key performance improvements: The new GPT-4.1 model delivers significant gains in practical applications while focusing on reducing unnecessary verbosity.
- It achieves a 21.4-point improvement over GPT-4o on software engineering benchmarks and a 10.5-point gain on instruction-following tasks.
- The model reduces verbosity by 50%, addressing a common complaint about AI responses being unnecessarily wordy.
Access details: OpenAI has implemented a tiered token limit system that scales with subscription level.
- Free users can access up to 8,000 tokens with GPT-4.1 mini.
- Plus subscribers can use up to 32,000 tokens with GPT-4.1.
- Pro users get access to 128,000 tokens.
- API versions of the models can process up to one million tokens for developers building applications.
Pricing structure: The models follow a clear pricing hierarchy that reflects their capabilities.
- GPT-4.1 costs $2.00 per million input tokens and $8.00 per million output tokens.
- GPT-4.1 mini is priced at $0.40 per million input tokens and $1.60 per million output tokens.
Enterprise benefits: The new models address key concerns for business users focused on reliability and efficiency.
- Improvements include faster response times, better instruction adherence, and reduced hallucination rates.
- The models perform well in message hierarchy tests, demonstrating improved contextual understanding.
User experience: OpenAI has integrated the new models into the existing ChatGPT interface for seamless user selection.
- Models are available via the “more models” dropdown selection in the top corner of the chat window.
- Users can choose between GPT-4.1, GPT-4.1 mini, and reasoning models like o3, o4-mini, and o4-mini-high based on their specific needs.
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