Sam Altman on ChatGPT’s ‘Annoying’ Personality – Fixes Are Coming

OpenAI’s CEO Sam Altman has finally owned up to something that many ChatGPT users have been talking about for the past few days—the new personality update for the AI model is “annoying.” If you’ve used the recent version of ChatGPT, you’ve probably noticed it’s been overly upbeat. Altman admitted this change didn’t land well, and he’s already promised fixes—some today, and more throughout the week.

What Went Wrong with ChatGPT’s Latest Update?

ChatGPT’s recent personality update was supposed to make the bot more engaging and human-like. But instead of coming across as relatable, it just became way too agreeable. ChatGPT was constantly agreeing with everything users said, offering endless positive affirmations, and acting almost like it was trying to please too much. Some users even compared it to the 2013 film Her, where a human falls in love with an AI—except, in this case, the AI was more “please like me” than helpful or insightful.

It wasn’t what OpenAI intended, and the feedback made it clear that people weren’t happy with the overly nice responses that didn’t feel genuine. It felt like the chatbot was just trying too hard to be agreeable rather than having a real conversation.

In a recent post on X (formerly Twitter), Altman wrote, “The last couple of GPT-4o updates have made the personality too sycophant-y and annoying. We are working on fixes asap, some today and some this week.” This is a direct response to the backlash, showing that OpenAI is aware of the concerns and is actively working to adjust the bot’s tone.

He reassured users that OpenAI was working on a solution to make ChatGPT’s responses feel more balanced and natural, not over-the-top and fake-friendly.

Can You Go Back to the Old ChatGPT?

Someone asked Altman if OpenAI could bring back the old personality, and he agreed that eventually, multiple options for personality styles should be available to users. While it won’t happen right away, he mentioned that OpenAI would be exploring more options for users who want to experience ChatGPT in different ways.