# OpenAI text-davinci-003 — deprecation status

> Yes — text-davinci-003 is retired. OpenAI deprecated it on July 6, 2023 and shut it down on January 4, 2024; API requests to it now fail. The recommended replacement is GPT-3.5 Turbo Instruct.

The InstructGPT model that powered the first ChatGPT preview and most of the original prompt-engineering literature. It was a completions model — you sent a prompt string and got a continuation — and its retirement in January 2024 is what forced a generation of code onto the chat API.

## Facts

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Provider | OpenAI |
| Model id | `text-davinci-003` |
| Status | Retired |
| Released | November 28, 2022 |
| Deprecated | July 6, 2023 |
| Shutdown | January 4, 2024 (938 days ago) |
| Last verified | July 30, 2026 |

## Replacement

- **GPT-3.5 Turbo Instruct** (`gpt-3.5-turbo-instruct`) · recommended — https://modeldeprecations.dev/openai/gpt-3.5-turbo-instruct
  - The named successor kept the completions endpoint alive; it is now deprecated too, shutting down September 2026. After that, no completions-style model remains.
  - Parameters it accepts: https://modelparams.dev/models/openai/gpt-3.5-turbo-instruct

```diff
- "model": "text-davinci-003"
+ "model": "gpt-3.5-turbo-instruct"
```

## FAQ

### When did OpenAI text-davinci-003 shut down?

OpenAI text-davinci-003 shut down on January 4, 2024. API requests to it fail from that date onward.

### What replaces OpenAI text-davinci-003?

OpenAI recommends GPT-3.5 Turbo Instruct (`gpt-3.5-turbo-instruct`) as the replacement for OpenAI text-davinci-003. The named successor kept the completions endpoint alive; it is now deprecated too, shutting down September 2026. After that, no completions-style model remains.

### Is OpenAI text-davinci-003 still available?

No. OpenAI text-davinci-003 is retired and no longer served — it was shut down on January 4, 2024. Calls to it return an error.

### How do I migrate from OpenAI text-davinci-003 to gpt-3.5-turbo-instruct?

Swap the model id in your API call: replace "text-davinci-003" with "gpt-3.5-turbo-instruct". The named successor kept the completions endpoint alive; it is now deprecated too, shutting down September 2026. After that, no completions-style model remains.

## Sources

- [OpenAI API deprecations](https://developers.openai.com/api/docs/deprecations) — accessed 2026-07-30

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Canonical page: https://modeldeprecations.dev/openai/text-davinci-003
JSON: https://modeldeprecations.dev/api/v1/models/openai/text-davinci-003.json