artificial general intelligence AI News & Updates
Author Karen Hao Critiques OpenAI's Transformation from Nonprofit to $90B AI Empire
Karen Hao, author of "Empire of AI," discusses OpenAI's evolution from a nonprofit "laughingstock" to a $90 billion company pursuing AGI at rapid speeds. She argues that OpenAI abandoned its original humanitarian mission for a typical Silicon Valley approach of moving fast and scaling, creating an AI empire built on resource-hoarding and exploitative practices.
Skynet Chance (+0.04%): The critique highlights OpenAI's shift from safety-focused humanitarian goals to a "move fast, break things" mentality, which could increase risks of deploying insufficiently tested AI systems. The emphasis on scale over safety considerations suggests weakened alignment with human welfare priorities.
Skynet Date (-1 days): The "breakneck speeds" approach to AGI development and abandonment of cautious humanitarian principles suggests acceleration of potentially risky AI deployment. The prioritization of rapid scaling over careful development could compress safety timelines.
AGI Progress (+0.01%): While the news confirms OpenAI's substantial resources ($90B valuation) and explicit AGI pursuit, it's primarily commentary rather than reporting new technical capabilities. The resource accumulation does support continued AGI development efforts.
AGI Date (+0 days): The description of "breakneck speeds" in AGI pursuit and massive resource accumulation suggests maintained or slightly accelerated development pace. However, this is observational commentary rather than announcement of new acceleration factors.
OpenAI Releases GPT-5 with Unified Architecture and Agent Capabilities
OpenAI has launched GPT-5, a unified AI model that combines reasoning abilities with fast responses and enables ChatGPT to complete complex tasks like generating software applications and managing calendars. CEO Sam Altman calls it "the best model in the world" and a significant step toward artificial general intelligence (AGI). The model is now available to all free ChatGPT users and shows improvements in coding, reduced hallucinations, and better safety measures.
Skynet Chance (+0.06%): GPT-5's agent capabilities and OpenAI's explicit positioning as a step toward AGI increases potential control risks, though improved safety measures and reduced deception rates partially offset these concerns.
Skynet Date (-1 days): The model's enhanced agentic abilities and widespread deployment to free users accelerates the timeline for advanced AI systems reaching broader populations with autonomous task completion capabilities.
AGI Progress (+0.04%): GPT-5 represents a significant architectural advancement with unified reasoning and response capabilities, while OpenAI explicitly frames it as progress toward AGI that can "outperform humans at most economically valuable work."
AGI Date (-1 days): The successful integration of reasoning and speed in a single model, combined with agent-like task completion abilities, suggests faster than expected progress toward general-purpose AI systems.