By December, openAI is set to roll out its next big AI model, codenamed Orion. It’s expected to be one of the company’s most advanced artificial intelligence products since the launch of ChatGPT. This time, OpenAI is doing things differently, opening early access to some companies (rather than offering ChatGPT immediately to everyone).
No official launch date is known, but insiders say the tech giant hopes for December. According to Microsoft, the model is expected to run on Azure as soon as November, a major partner for OpenAI. Orion marks a strategic shift for OpenAI on its way to breakthroughs in artificial intelligence.
What makes Orion stand out in OpenAI’s upcoming December launch?
Orion will not be rolled out like GPT-4 or the more recent GPT-o1, while it may follow in the footsteps of its predecessors. OpenAI instead plans to invite certain companies to access the model first before an immediate integration into ChatGPT. With this approach, these organizations may gain the opportunity to develop innovative new products using Orion’s capabilities before audiences are somewhat broader than the novel reached.
This model supposedly takes a huge step in AI development, perhaps as much as 100 times more powerful than GPT-4. Instead, OpenAI has not said whether the new model will be first named GPT-5. Like all big tech releases, the timeline for Orion is always changing, but progress is growing, and celebrations inside celebrate them making it through their training process.
'GPT Next’ to Achieve 3 OOMs Boost. Great insights from the #KDDISummit. Tadao Nagasaki of @OpenAI Japan unveiled plans for ‘GPT Next,’ promising an Orders of Magnitude (OOMs) leap. ⚡️ This AI model aims for 100x more computational volume than GPT-4, using similar resources but… pic.twitter.com/fMopHeW5ww
— Shaun Ralston (@shaunralston) September 3, 2024
OpenAI’s CEO, Sam Altman, dropped some cryptic hints about Orion’s release in a post on X (formerly Twitter), alluding to the rising of “winter constellations.” Anyone savvy in astronomy or AI knew he was talking about Orion, a constellation that rises during winter months.
This aligns with the teasers, but the timing of Orion’s release is important for OpenAI. Recently, the company has taken in $6.6 billion in funding, a round helping move it toward reorganization as a for-profit company. With these financial changes comes increased pressure for innovation, and the launch of Orion could be a big piece to OpenAI’s innovation strategy going forward.
I just shared this with OpenAI: pic.twitter.com/1gTCbigdsS
— Bob McGrew (@bobmcgrewai) September 26, 2024
While preparing for the Orion release, OpenAI is seeing some internal changes. In recent news, Chief Research Officer Bob McGrew, VP of Post Training Barret Zoph, and Chief Technology Officer Mira Murati announced their departures. However, what these changes indicate about the company’s direction is still unclear, and it remains committed to its vision of building ever-more-powerful AI models.
I posted this note to OpenAI.
Hey everybody, I have decided to leave OpenAI.
This was a very difficult decision as I have has such an incredible time at OpenAI. I got to join right before ChatGPT and helped build the post-training team from scratch with John Schulman and…
— Barret Zoph (@barret_zoph) September 26, 2024
Most importantly, Orion will be a huge test for OpenAI’s ability, but the company is simultaneously gunning for its bold-stated aim of creating Artificial General Intelligence (AGI). Orion’s release will be a key component to this long-term vision, and some sources indicate that this could eventually be part of an even more capable system that may be better described as AGI. The industry is watching closely as we wait on the final release of Orion because one thing is now clear: OpenAI is betting big on its next AI model.
Image credits: Furkan Demirkaya/Ideogram
