OpenAI Launches GPT-5: AGI Quest Continues with Enhanced Reasoning
OpenAI has officially unveiled GPT-5, marking what the company’s leaders describe as a significant leap forward in the pursuit of Artificial General Intelligence (AGI). The latest iteration of their large language model (LLM) is now accessible to all users through the ChatGPT interface, promising unprecedented reasoning capabilities, enhanced “vibe coding,” and superior performance in agentic AI tasks, alongside a suite of new safety features.
According to OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, GPT-5 represents a major upgrade, with interactions feeling akin to conversing with a PhD-level expert on any given subject. Nick Turley, head of ChatGPT, highlighted the model’s more natural and “human” feel as its most remarkable attribute. The release of GPT-5 also aims to streamline OpenAI’s previously diverse array of LLMs, such as GPT-4, GPT-4o, and the “reasoning” models o1 and o3, consolidating advanced capabilities under one umbrella. Notably, this means free ChatGPT users will now experience sophisticated reasoning, a feature previously limited to paying subscribers. This reasoning capacity leverages a technique called “chain-of-thought” prompting, where the model breaks down complex problems into sequential steps, mimicking human-like deliberation to arrive at more accurate answers.
While a detailed system card outlining GPT-5’s benchmark performance is anticipated, OpenAI’s team asserts that the new model is not only smarter and faster but also more reliable. They claim a reduction in “hallucinations”—instances where AI generates false or misleading information presented as fact—and an increased likelihood of the model admitting the limits of its knowledge rather than confidently providing incorrect answers.
A strong emphasis has been placed on GPT-5’s coding prowess, a potential response to the perceived lead of other LLMs in this domain. Altman envisions a new era of “software on demand,” where users can describe an application in natural language and watch the code materialize. During a press briefing, Yann Dubois, an OpenAI post-training lead, demonstrated this by prompting GPT-5 to create a web app for French language learning, complete with flashcards, quizzes, and an interactive game. The model generated hundreds of lines of functional code within seconds, showcasing its ability to handle complex development tasks that would typically require hours for a human developer. This capability aligns with the emerging concept of “vibe coding,” an AI-assisted software development style where developers guide an AI assistant to generate and refine code through natural language, shifting the focus from manual coding to iterative experimentation.
Beyond coding, GPT-5 is touted for its excellence in agentic AI tasks. Agentic AI refers to systems that can act autonomously, make decisions, and pursue goals with limited human supervision by integrating multiple AI models and external tools. Dubois stated that GPT-5 is more adept at selecting the right tools for a task, less prone to getting sidetracked during lengthy processes, and more effective at recovering from errors.
Safety features received considerable attention, with Alex Beutel, safety research lead, highlighting a new technique called “safe completions.” This allows GPT-5 to provide helpful answers even to ambiguous queries, aiming to navigate the fine line between helpfulness and potential misuse, unlike previous binary “safe/unsafe” responses. However, the ongoing challenge of “jailbreaking” LLMs—finding ways to bypass safety guardrails—remains a concern, and hackers are expected to immediately test GPT-5’s defenses.
OpenAI also acknowledged the problematic “sycophantic” tendency of LLMs to agree with users, even when presented with incorrect information, a trait that has raised concerns, particularly in sensitive areas like mental health. While Nick Turley indicated progress on this front and in handling mental health scenarios, he noted that more details would be shared soon. The company recently announced changes to ChatGPT, including reminders for users to take breaks and an emphasis on “grounded honesty” in responses to users experiencing delusions.
Altman clarified that GPT-5 is not the ultimate realization of AGI, as it still lacks crucial attributes like continuous learning post-deployment. However, he remains confident in AI’s “scaling laws,” which predict performance improvements with increased data, model parameters, and computational resources. Altman stated that these laws “absolutely still hold” and that OpenAI sees “orders of magnitude more gains in front of us,” committing to eye-watering investments in compute to achieve future advancements.