What is Premium GPT-4.1 model?

[doggy8088]

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On the About premium requests page, a new model called Premium GPT-4.1 is mentioned. This model uses 1 premium request. Due to the lack of information about Premium GPT-4.1, does anyone know what it is?

[yasir-ai]

Yo good catch – that label just dropped

The Premium GPT-4.1 model mentioned in copilot is referring to OpenAI’s new updated “GPT-4o” variant that originally rolled out around april 2024.

It’s faster + smart + cheaper than GPT-4o base model
It supports a longer context window (128k tokens)

Every premium model that openAI currently offers will eventually be optimized and offered for CHEAPER

I know github copilot now uses this for premium users who opted into paid plans

Docs on this are kinda scattered rn, but here’s OpenAI’s official post: https://openai.com/index/gpt-4-1/
Here's a video on it https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CUhEIl1FQY8

LMK if you’re seeing specific behavior changes or if your usage logs mention this model directly – happy to dig deeper for you if it’s product specific.. I'm pretty curious too now

[doggy8088]

If this model is cheaper, why does it need to deduct a premium request? This logic doesn’t make sense. 😅

[Abinesh156]

“Premium GPT-4.1” in GitHub Copilot refers to OpenAI’s GPT-4.1 model (aka GPT-4o upgrade).
It’s the most capable, multimodal version of GPT-4 available to Copilot as of now — faster, smarter, and able to handle much longer context (up to 128k tokens).

Even though it’s cheaper for OpenAI to run per token, GitHub treats it as a premium-tier model because:
It delivers higher reasoning quality and longer memory.
It’s reserved for Copilot Premium subscribers.
Each “premium request” ensures you’re billed for advanced compute usage instead of standard GPT-3.5/4o requests.

So in short:
🔹 “Premium GPT-4.1” = latest GPT-4 model (GPT-4o-based),
🔹 faster + smarter + more context,
🔹 still counts as a premium request due to quality tier, not raw cost.

It’s called a “premium request” because of feature tier, not backend cost.
Think of it like flying business class on a newer, more fuel-efficient plane — the ticket might still cost more even if the airline saves fuel