Superseded (verified 2026-09-30)

GPT-4.1 (API, April 2025) is legacy. gpt-4.1-nano has a shutdown date of 2026-10-23 (replacement per OpenAI: gpt-5.6-luna); the deprecations page lists no shutdown for gpt-4.1 or gpt-4.1-mini as of today. Reported removed from ChatGPT 2026-02-13 (secondary sources). Current lineup: gpt-5-and-gpt-6-family.

GPT-4.1

OpenAI’s incremental update to GPT-4 series, released Spring 2025 with improvements over GPT-4 Turbo.

Overview

GPT-4.1 represents a point release in the GPT-4 family, providing performance improvements and optimizations over GPT-4 Turbo while maintaining compatibility with existing deployments.

Key Information

• Released: April 2025
• Status: Successor to GPT-4 Turbo
• Architecture: GPT-4 family (improved)
• Availability: Multiple model variants
• Positioning: Incremental upgrade path

Model Variants

GPT-4.1 is available in different variants optimized for:

• General-purpose reasoning
• Code generation and analysis
• Vision-based tasks
• High-latency vs. low-latency needs
• Cost optimization vs. maximum capability

Performance Improvements

Improvements over GPT-4 Turbo include:

• Enhanced reasoning accuracy
• Better instruction-following
• Improved multimodal understanding
• Reduced latency on common tasks
• Better cost efficiency per token

Prompting Best Practices

For optimal results with GPT-4.1, OpenAI provides detailed prompting guidance:

• GPT-4.1 Prompting Guide
• Focus on clarity and specificity in instructions
• Structured prompting for consistent outputs
• Few-shot examples for complex tasks

Use Cases

• Complex reasoning tasks
• Code generation and review
• Multimodal analysis
• Document processing
• Enterprise applications

Availability

• OpenAI API: Available for developers
• Azure OpenAI: Enterprise deployments
• ChatGPT: Via web interface for subscribers
• Custom Deployments: Direct partnerships

Comparison to Previous Models

vs. GPT-4 Turbo

• Same or improved performance
• Better efficiency
• Refined model variants
• Continued vision support

vs. GPT-4o

• GPT-4.1: Text-focused optimization
• GPT-4o: Multimodal-native (audio, vision, text)
• Different specialization targets

Positioning in Model Hierarchy

GPT-4.1 fits within OpenAI’s model lineup:

• Below: GPT-6 family (frontier as of 2026-09; see gpt-5-and-gpt-6-family)
• Above: GPT-4o mini, GPT-3.5 Turbo
• Alongside: GPT-4o (different optimization focus)

Technical Features

• Function calling support
• JSON mode for structured outputs
• Extended context window (128K tokens)
• Vision capabilities (variant-dependent)
• Fine-tuning capabilities

See Also

• GPT-4
• GPT-4 Turbo
• GPT-4o
• GPT-5 Series
• OpenAI GPT Series

Sources

• https://developers.openai.com/api/docs/deprecations (2026-09-30)
• https://developers.openai.com/api/docs/models (2026-09-30)