Sam Altman says OpenAI has better AI models than GPT-5, but it can’t release them yet. Here’s why
OpenAI released its best AI model to date, GPT-5, at a live-streamed event last week. The new model is said to show improvements in many areas, including accuracy, reasoning, coding, writing, health and multimodal abilities, while also reducing hallucinations (making things up) and sycophancy (being overly agreeable). However, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has said that the ChatGPT maker has better models, but cannot offer them yet due to a lack of capacity.
“We have to make these horrible trade-offs right now,” Altman told The Verge.
“We have better models, and we just can’t offer them because we don’t have the capacity. We have other kinds of new products and services we’d love to offer.” he added
Altman added that OpenAI plans to spend “trillions of dollars” on data center construction in the near future to address these infrastructure challenges.
The comments by Altman come amid criticism over OpenAI’s patchy rollout of GPT-5, with some users voicing frustration on social media about the lack of emotional depth and short answers from the AI model. Despite the backlash, Altman said ChatGPT was now a new high after GPT-5 launch and the website now ranks as the fifth-largest website in the world by traffic. According to him, the AI chatbot is on a “clear path” to overtake Instagram and Facebook to become the third-largest site globally, though surpassing Google could be more challenging.
Earlier this year, OpenAI faced a GPU shortage, which forced the company to cut image-generation limits even for paying users after the Studio Ghibli–style image trend following the launch of its GPT-4o’s image generator.
Although the new model discussed by Altman may still be some time away, the OpenAI chief revealed that the company plans to develop additional standalone apps beyond ChatGPT, potentially including an AI-powered social media app.
Altman also confirmed that OpenAI plans to fund Merge Labs, a brain-computer interface startup that competes directly with Elon Musk’s Neuralink.
Earlier in the year, OpenAI announced that it was collaborating with former Apple designer Jony Ive on the development of a new AI device. It is anyone’s guess at this point what this device will be and whether ChatGPT will be at the centre of the user experience.
