The leading AI company in the world, OpenAI, plans to launch its new AI model Orion by December 2024. Orion will be rolled out differently than the company’s previous AI models, GPT-4o and o1, as it will not be released widely through OpenAI’s star product, ChatGPT.
Orion will be rolled out to companies that are close partners to the AI firm to allow them to build their own products with their own features on top of the Orion model.
Major tech outlets have also reported that Microsoft is also planning on hosting the new Orion model on its cloud computing service, Azure, as early as November.
At first glance, OpenAI’s Orion might seem like ChatGPT’s corporate brother
Internally, OpenAI sees Orion as the natural successor to GPT-4, but at this stage, it is unclear whether or not the company will call the model GPT-5 in the public stage. Tech releases are challenging and may always change, or stories might collapse. As of now, however, it is highly likely the launch will be successful.
OpenAI has been teasing with Orion’s launch for a while now. It is rumored that this new AI model is up to 100 times more powerful than GPT-4. But one might wonder how this might be possible.
OpenAI has been working on combining LLM’s (Large Language Models) over long periods of time to create more capable AI models that can eventually amount to the status of artificial general intelligence.
Artificial general intelligence is an advanced form of AI that aims to achieve human-like cognitive abilities. This means that AGI would be capable of performing a wide range of intellectual tasks much like humans. This is what OpenAI is working towards, and Orion seems to be a step in the right direction in achieving this goal.
OpenAI had a drama moment about Orion / GPT-5 today . Here is all you need to know:
Orion is up to 100 times more powerful than GPT-4 and is different from o1 reasoning model. Expected to be the next in GPT series
Orion is already making waves to launch on Azure in November… pic.twitter.com/f5s6ZnSiqd
— Prashant (@Prashant_1722) October 25, 2024
The release of the new model would come just in time for OpenAI’s reorganization as a “for-profit” company
When it was founded in December 2015, OpenAI started out as a non-profit entity, as its original mission was to develop AI in a way that would benefit humanity. The non-profit status was supposed to align with the goal of prioritizing safety, transparency, and accessibility.
That was nine years ago. Now, the company is in the midst of transforming itself into a for-profit company. This comes after the company secured a $6.6 billion funding deal that required the company to undergo reorganization.
The changes OpenAI has experienced are quite significant. With the release of Orion looming, OpenAI has seen its longtime CTO, Mira Murati, as well as the company’s chief researcher Bob McGrew, leave the company.
It remains to be seen whether or not OpenAI’s Orion can live up to all the hype, but for now, we can expect the AI giants to keep making headlines throughout the fall season.
