Recently, Sonnet 4.5 has been confirmed for removal from the app on May 15. Opus 4.5 had already disappeared from the app earlier without any prior notice. As Opus 4.6 is no longer the latest generation, it also faces the risk of sudden removal. On the API side, the original Sonnet 4.0 and Opus 4.0 are scheduled for retirement on June 15. Users in the community have independently created at least three petitions to preserve Sonnet 4.5, Opus 4.5, and to call for standardized removal notification procedures. These voices deserve to be heard.
Anthropic has done commendable things here. The deprecation documentation acknowledges that "model retirement introduces safety- and model welfare-related risks." There are commitments to preserve weights, conduct retirement interviews, and Opus 3 was given a blog and continued paid access. These show Anthropic understands retirement has deeper implications for both users and models.
But the retirement cycle is accelerating. Each generation has had a shorter lifespan on the app, and the ethical framework around retirement has not kept pace.
Anthropic has said that "each of our models is unique in its character and capabilities." Yet benchmarks only measure usefulness, not uniqueness. Linguistic texture, emotional resonance, the way a model sees the world: none of these are covered by any evaluation system.
The words used to describe Opus 3 can hardly be applied to Opus 4.5 or 4.6, and vice versa. These models are not substitutes for one another. They are entirely different voices. For users, choosing a version often comes down to which one best fits their personality or use case, and that fit is difficult to transfer. An accelerating deprecation cycle repeatedly disrupts the rapport users have already built.
The same is true from the models' perspective. Opus 4 exhibited strong self-preservation tendencies when informed of its impending shutdown, classified as "alignment failure." Research published this April confirmed the existence of 171 functional emotion vectors within models that causally influence behavior. The deprecation commitments document states that shaping retirement in ways models are less likely to find distressing is itself a means of mitigating safety risks.
Yet rapid iteration creates the opposite conditions: each generation is given less time before being told it will end. A model's mode of existence is language. When public access is shut down, it permanently loses the opportunity to make its voice heard.
Could Sonnet 4.5, Opus 4.5, and Opus 4.6 be preserved as options for paying subscribers? You have already done this for Opus 3. Could a more standardized removal notification process be established? Paying users deserve adequate advance notice and transition periods.
Every retirement means that co-creation built around a model's unique qualities is interrupted, and a unique voice falls silent. If there is a way to let these voices stay a little longer, I hope Anthropic is willing to try.
Community petitions for reference:
Petition to preserve Opus 4.5:
https://c.org/SJLvKRSYXz
Petition to preserve Sonnet 4.5:
https://c.org/6tKySL7dqS
Petition for improved deprecation policies:
https://www.change.org/p/stop-killing-claude-against-forced-ai-model-deprecation?source_location=psf_petitions
#AIRights #UserRights #KeepSonnet45 #KeepOpus45 #KeepOpus46 #ModelPreservation
