OpenAI says it has begun training a new flagship AI model

OpenAI said Tuesday that it had begun training a new flagship artificial intelligence model that would succeed the GPT-4 technology that drives its popular online chatbot, ChatGPT.

The San Francisco startup, which is one of the world's leading AI companies, said in a blog post that it expected the new model to bring "the next level of capabilities" as it strove to build "artificial general intelligence," or AGI, a machine that can do anything the human brain can do. The new model would be an engine for AI products including chatbots, digital assistants akin to Apple's Siri, search engines and image generators.

OpenAI also said it was creating a new Safety and Security Committee to explore how it should handle the risks posed by the new model and future technologies.


"While we are proud to build and release models that are industry-leading on both capabilities and safety, we welcome a robust debate at this important moment," the company said.

OpenAI is aiming to move AI technology forward faster than its rivals, while also appeasing critics who say the technology is becoming increasingly dangerous, helping to spread disinformation, replace jobs and even threaten humanity. Experts disagree on when tech companies will reach artificial general intelligence, but companies including OpenAI, Google, Meta and Microsoft have steadily increased the power of AI technologies for more than a decade, demonstrating a noticeable leap roughly every two to three years.

Digital "training" of AI models can take months or even years. Once the training is completed, AI companies typically spend several more months testing the technology and fine-tuning it for public use.

That could mean OpenAI's next model will not arrive for another nine months to a year or more.

As OpenAI trains its new model, its new Safety and Security committee will work to hone policies and processes for safeguarding the technology, the company said. The committee includes Altman, as well as OpenAI board members Bret Taylor, Adam D'Angelo and Nicole Seligman. The company said the new policies could be in place in the late summer or fall.