Amid the recent backlash from the user community regarding its controversial agreement with the US Department of Defense (now the Department of War), OpenAI has released the GPT-5.4 as its latest frontier AI model. OpenAI states that this is the most capable and efficient model yet for professional workflows. The update powers an upgraded ChatGPT 5.4, introducing enhanced reasoning, coding, and agentic capabilities designed to tackle complex tasks with greater accuracy, fewer errors, and minimal back-and-forth.
Among the star features for GPT-5.4 include a new “Thinking Mode” and direct integrations with Microsoft Excel and Google Sheets – both of which are expected to make ChatGPT a compelling tool to retain the user base, which has been fleeing towards rival Anthropic’s Claude.
New ChatGPT 5.4 brings Thinking Mode, new variants
In ChatGPT, GPT-5.4 comes in two primary versions: Thinking and Pro. The ChatGPT Thinking version features a new interaction style, where the model first displays an upfront plan of its reasoning process. Users can review and adjust the direction mid-response, leading to more relevant outputs, reduced need for follow-up prompts, and better handling of deep web research or highly specific queries. It also maintains a stronger context over extended conversations.
The ChatGPT Pro version targets professionals needing peak performance on demanding tasks, leveraging additional compute for superior results.
OpenAI highlights that GPT-5.4 unifies advances in reasoning, coding (building on GPT-5.3-Codex), and agentic workflows into one model. It supports native computer-use features via the API and Codex, allowing AI agents to operate software, browse the web, and execute multi-step processes with up to 1 million tokens of context. The Tool Search functionality optimises tool calling by letting the model look up definitions on demand, reducing token consumption in complex setups.
ChatGPT in Microsoft Excel, Google Sheets
A major highlight is GPT-5.4’s optimised performance for data analysis and spreadsheet tasks. OpenAI has released ChatGPT for Excel in beta — an add-on that embeds ChatGPT directly into Microsoft Excel workbooks. It enables users to build, update, and analyse models, run scenarios, generate outputs from cells/formulas, and accelerate financial modeling or data workflows.
The company notes particular improvements in spreadsheet creation and editing, with internal benchmarks showing GPT-5.4 scoring 87.3% on junior investment banking-style modeling tasks (versus 68.4% for GPT-5.2). It also excels at presentation generation, with humans preferring GPT-5.4 outputs 68% of the time for better aesthetics and visual variety.
ChatGPT for Google Sheets is expected to arrive soon, expanding the ecosystem for spreadsheet-heavy users.
As far as pricing and availability are concerned, GPT‑5.4 Thinking is ready to be used by ChatGPT Plus, Team, and Pro users, replacing GPT‑5.2 Thinking. OpenAI says that GPT‑5.2 Thinking will remain available for three months for paid users under the model picker in the Legacy Models section until June 5, 2026. Enterprise and Edu plan subscribers can enable early access via admin settings. GPT‑5.4 Pro is available to Pro and Enterprise plans only
The launch comes amid significant user backlash following OpenAI’s controversial agreement with the US Department of Defense to provide AI models for classified environments. The deal sparked widespread concerns over potential military applications, including mass surveillance and autonomous weapons. Data from market intelligence firm Sensor Tower showed US app uninstalls of ChatGPT surged 295% day-over-day on February 28 — far exceeding the app’s typical 9% average, as many users deleted the mobile app in protest. Downloads also dropped, while rival Anthropic’s Claude saw a boom in adoption, briefly topping US app charts.