Sam Altman Is Both Thrilled and Terrified by GPT-5

After years of anticipation, the next major leap in artificial intelligence, GPT-5, is reportedly just weeks away from release. Sam Altman, the CEO of OpenAI, has confirmed it's “coming soon,” with some sources pointing to a launch as early as August. While the tech world is buzzing with excitement, Altman himself has expressed a profound mix of thrill and trepidation about the new model's capabilities.

Glimpsing the Future

During a recent appearance on the This Past Weekend podcast with Theo Von, Altman shared an anecdote that highlighted the sheer power of GPT-5. He recounted testing the new model by feeding it a complex question from an email he couldn't fully comprehend. The model's perfect response left him feeling momentarily “useless.”

Altman didn't shy away from the gravity of this technological advancement, drawing a parallel to the Manhattan Project and the creation of the atomic bomb. He described the feeling as a monumental shift in power that borders on the uncontrollable. “Maybe this is great, maybe it’s bad, but what have we done?” he mused, acknowledging the natural unease that accompanies such a breakthrough.

For more insight, you can watch the full conversation between Sam Altman and Theo Von.

What to Expect from the GPT-5 Upgrade

While GPT-5 represents a significant step forward, it's not the advent of Artificial General Intelligence (AGI) that some have predicted. Prominent critics like Yann LeCun argue that large language models alone are not the path to true AGI.

Nonetheless, GPT-5 is expected to be a major upgrade. It is an experimental system built on new techniques, incorporating advanced reasoning tools from the developmental o3 model. Although this version isn't the specialized model that recently excelled at the International Mathematical Olympiad, users can expect it to be noticeably faster and more powerful than any currently available AI. It is set to be a substantial improvement, even if it doesn’t completely revolutionize the existing framework.

The Countdown Begins

The final countdown to GPT-5's release has started. As the world waits, even the leader of OpenAI admits to a degree of uncertainty about what the future holds once this powerful new technology is unleashed.