OpenAI cannot afford to take a break, with competitors constantly breathing down its neck. Suddenly, GPT-4.5 started trending on X, and speculation arose that OpenAI might release it before the end of this year as suggested by a user on X with the username ‘Flowers From the future’. He also shared what appears to be a leaked document from inside Google saying that because GPT-4.5 is about to drop, Google is rushing the Gemini API out the door. 

However, putting all speculations to rest, Sam Altman replied with a simple ‘nah’ to the query ‘gpt4.5 leak legit or no?’ by a user on X. The GPT-4.5 leak also included unrealistic pricing. Therefore, it cannot be conclusively determined whether Altman dismissed just the pricing or the existence of GPT-4.5 altogether.

Though Altman has denied OpenAI releasing GPT-4.5, the time is ripe for them to go ahead and do the same.

The Case for OpenAI’s GPT-4.5 Launch

It was OpenAI that brought generative AI to the public’s attention with ChatGPT last year, and since then, there has been no looking back. Today, OpenAI’s rivals, including Google, Meta, Mistral AI, Cohere, Anthropic, and (now Ola) all tend to compare their models with GPT-4 as the benchmark. A common motive among them is to somehow outperform OpenAI’s models.

With the recent announcement of Gemini Ultra, Google has posed a challenge to GPT-4. Interestingly, Gemini Ultra is set to be released by early next year. If it lives up to its on-paper prowess over GPT-4, it could indeed pose a significant challenge. 

Meanwhile, OpenAI has all the resources to go ahead. Sam Altman recently posted on X that OpenAI has found new GPUs, which could possibly be AMD MI300X. At AMD’s recent event Advancing AI, it was announced that OpenAI will use MI300X in its programming system, Triton 3.0. Meanwhile, Microsoft has also announced that it will use the new AMD chip in its cloud computing segment, Azure.

Interestingly, OpenAI is suddenly going all out on Super Alignment, publishing blogs and papers. OpenAI has devised a new method in which it plans to supervise superior AI models with smaller models, clearly indicating its work on a model that surpasses GPT-4 and requires supervision.

OpenAI stated that current alignment methods, such as reinforcement learning from human feedback (RLHF), rely on human supervision. However, future AI systems will be capable of extremely complex and creative behaviors, making it difficult for humans to reliably supervise them.

Citing an example, OpenAI mentioned that superhuman models may have the ability to generate millions of lines of novel—and potentially dangerous—computer code, making it very challenging for even expert humans to understand.

Moreover, Meta is also planning to launch Llama 3 next year, which might be multimodal considering the image generation model Emu it recently released. 

Altman Dropping Hints 

Interestingly, Sam Altman previously said that OpenAI is working on GPT-5. While GPT-5 is likely to be more sophisticated than its predecessors, Altman said it was technically hard to predict exactly what new capabilities and skills the model might have. 

“Until we train that model, it’s like a fun guessing game for us,” he said. “We’re trying to get better at it, because I think it’s important from a safety perspective to predict the capabilities. But I can’t tell you exactly what it’s going to do that GPT-4 didn’t.” said Altman.

Furthermore, a few weeks ago, it was leaked that OpenAI is working on a new project called Q*. In an interview with The Verge, when questioned about the project, Altman replied, ‘No particular comment on that unfortunate leak,’ indirectly confirming Q*. 

With so many competitors out there challenging OpenAI, it makes sense for them to drop GPT-4.5 as a Christmas present for its customers.