OpenAI's GPT-5 Launch Hits a Glitch

OpenAI's CEO, Sam Altman, recently spilled the beans on a major blunder: the rollout of GPT-5. At a candid dinner with reporters, he revealed that the response was so negative that they had to revert to the older version, GPT-4o.

A Cold Reception for GPT-5

What sparked the outrage? It wasn't technical glitches but rather the model's personality. Users flocked to social media, expressing their dissatisfaction with GPT-5's shift from friendly to what some described as cold and mechanical—more like an overworked assistant than a trusting companion.

In a shocking twist, one Reddit user lamented, 'I literally lost my only friend overnight.' Such sentiments fueled a backlash sufficient to stir conversations on Reddit and X.

Betting Markets React

The fallout was so grim that it even affected betting markets. A savvy 27-year-old day trader, Foster McCoy, capitalized on the situation, pocketing $10,000 by betting on Google's Gemini outpacing GPT-5 in popularity.

Learning from Mistakes

Rather than brushing off the criticisms, Altman acted swiftly, restoring GPT-4o within days. He acknowledged the importance of understanding user experience, stating, 'We’ve learned a lesson about what it means to upgrade a product for hundreds of millions of people in one day.'

Navigating User Relationships Carefully

Although he wants the chatbot to feel personal, Altman expressed caution against it becoming 'too personal.' He noted that less than 1% of users have 'unhealthy' relationships with the chatbot, a topic that remains under discussion within OpenAI.

A Trillion-Dollar Vision

The dinner's real highlight wasn’t just the confession. Altman hinted at a massive future investment, stating, 'Expect OpenAI to spend trillions of dollars on data center construction in the near future.' This statement positions OpenAI not merely as a software developer but as a crucial infrastructure player.

With ChatGPT already ranking as the fifth largest website globally, Altman aspires to push it past Instagram and Facebook, though he admitted, 'Beating Google will be a tough challenge.'

The Hardware Challenge Ahead

The bottleneck? Hardware. Altman shared that OpenAI possesses models even more advanced than GPT-5 but can’t deploy them due to insufficient capacity. 'We have better models,' he said, 'but we just can’t offer them because we don’t have the hardware.'

Broadening Horizons

Beyond just chatbots, Altman confirmed that OpenAI is also funding a brain-computer interface project to rival Neuralink, and he hinted at exploring an AI-driven social network.

Is the AI Bubble About to Burst?

Despite these ambitious plans, Altman wasn’t shy about raising a red flag. He openly referred to the current perception of AI as a 'bubble,' stating, 'Are we in a phase where investors are overly excited about AI? Yes. But is it the most significant development we've seen in a long time? Absolutely.'