OpenAI's Altman challenges Elon Musk with plans for Neuralink rival, FT reports
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16 minutes ago
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The latest ChatGPT is supposed to be ‘PhD level' smart. It can't even label a map
A version of this story appeared in CNN Business' Nightcap newsletter. To get it in your inbox, sign up for free here. Sam Altman, the artificial intelligence hype master, is in damage-control mode. OpenAI's latest version of its vaunted ChatGPT bot was supposed to be 'PhD-level' smart. It was supposed to be the next great leap forward for a company that investors have poured billions of dollars into. Instead, ChatGPT got a flatter, more terse personality that can't reliably answer basic questions. The resulting public mockery has forced the company to make sweaty apologies while standing by its highfalutin claims about the bot's capabilities. In short: It's a dud. The misstep on the model, called GPT-5, is notable for a couple of reasons. 1. It highlighted the many existing shortcomings of generative AI that critics were quick to seize on (more on that in a moment, because they were quite funny). 2. It raised serious doubts about OpenAI's ability to build and market consumer products that human beings are willing to pay for. That should be particularly concerning for investors, given OpenAI, which has never turned a profit, is reportedly worth $500 billion. Let's rewind a bit to last Thursday, when OpenAI finally released GPT-5 to the world — about a year behind schedule, according to the Wall Street Journal. Now, one thing this industry is really good at is hype, and on that metric, CEO Sam Altman delivered. During a livestream ahead of the launch last Thursday, Altman said talking to GPT-5 would be like talking to 'a legitimate PhD-level expert in anything, any area you need.' In his typically lofty style, Altman said GPT-5 reminds him of 'when the iPhone went from those giant-pixel old ones to the retina display.' The new model, he said, is 'significantly better in obvious ways and subtle ways, and it feels like something I don't want to ever have to go back from,' Altman said in a press briefing. Then people started actually using it. Users had a field day testing GPT-5 and mocking its wildly incorrect answers. The journalist Tim Burke said on Bluesky that he prompted GPT-5 to 'show me a diagram of the first 12 presidents of the United States with an image of their face and their name under the image.' The bot returned an image of nine people instead, with rather creative spellings of America's early leaders, like 'Gearge Washingion' and 'William Henry Harrtson.' A similar prompt for the last 12 presidents returned an image that included two separate versions of George W. Bush. No, not George H.W. Bush, and then Dubya. It had 'George H. Bush.' And then his son, twice. Except the second time, George Jr. looked like just some random guy. Labeling basic maps of the United States also proved tricky for GPT-5 (but again, pretty funny, as tech writer Ed Zitron's post on Bluesky showed). GPT-5 did slightly better when I asked it on Wednesday for a map of the US. Some people can, in fact, label the great state of Vermont correctly without a PhD, but not GPT-5. And this is the first I'm hearing of states named 'Yirginia.' The slop coming out of GPT-5 was funny when it was just us nerds trying to find its blind spots. But some regular fans of ChatGPT weren't laughing. Especially because users have been particularly alarmed by the new version's personality – or rather, lack thereof. In rolling out the new model, OpenAI essentially retired its earlier models, including the wildly popular GPT-4o that's been on the market for over a year, making it so that even people who loved the previous iteration of the chatbot suddenly couldn't use it. More than 4,000 people signed a petition to compel OpenAI to resurrect it. 'I'm so done with ChatGPT 5,' one user wrote on Reddit, explaining how they tried to use the new model to run 'a simple system' of tasks that an earlier ChatGPT model used to handle. The user said GPT-5 'went rogue,' deleting tasks and moving deadlines. And while OpenAI's defenders could chalk that up to an isolated or even made-up incident, within 24 hours of the GPT-5 launch Altman was doing damage control, seemingly caught of guard by the bad reception. On X, he announced a laundry list of updates, including the return of GPT-4o for paid subscribers. 'We expected some bumpiness as we roll out so many things at once,' Altman said in a post. 'But it was a little more bumpy than we hoped for!' The CEO's failure to anticipate the outrage suggests he doesn't have a firm grasp on how an estimated 700 million weekly active users are engaging with his product. Perhaps Altman missed all the coverage — from CNN, the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal — of people forming deep emotional attachments to ChatGPT or rival chatbots, having endless conversations with them as if they were real people. A simple search of Reddit could have offered insights into how others are integrating the tool into their workflows and lives. Basic market research should have shown OpenAI that a mass update sunsetting the tools people rely on would be more than just a bit bumpy. When asked about the backlash to GPT-5, an OpenAI representative pointed CNN to Altman's public statements on social media announcing the return of older models, as well as a blog post about how the company is optimizing GPT-5. The messy rollout speaks to how the AI industry as a whole is struggling to prove themselves as producers of consumer goods rather than 'labs' — as they love to call themselves, because it sounds more scientific and distracts people from the fact that they are backed by people who are trying to make unfathomable amounts of cash for themselves. AI companies often base their fanfare around how a model performs in various behind-the-scenes benchmark tests that show how well a bot can do complex math. For all we know, GPT-5 sailed through those evaluations. But the problem is that OpenAI hyped the thing so far into the stratosphere, disappointment was (or should have been) inevitable. 'I honestly didn't think OpenAI would burn the brand name on something so mid,' wrote prominent researcher and AI critic Gary Marcus. 'In a rational world, their valuation would take a hit,' he added, noting OpenAI still hasn't turned a profit, is slashing prices to keep its user numbers up, and is hemorrhaging talent as competition heats up. For critics like Marcus, the GPT-5 flop was a kind of vindication. As he noted in a blog post, other models like Elon Musk's Grok aren't faring much better, and the backlash from even AI proponents feels like a turning point. When people talk about AI, they're talking about one of two things: the AI we have now — chatbots with limited, defined utility — and the AI that companies like Altman's claim they can build — machines that can outsmart humans and tell us how to cure cancer, fix global warming, drive our cars and grow our crops, all while entertaining and delighting us along the way. But the gap between the promise and the reality of AI only seems to widen with every new model. CNN's Lisa Eadicicco contributed reporting.
Yahoo
31 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Could Perplexity's $34.5 Billion Offer for Chrome Ignite the Biggest Shift in Search Since Google Itself?
Key Points Perplexity is a start-up competing with ChatGPT and other large language models (LLMs). The company has a smaller market presence compared to other tools, and it is seeking to bolster its competitive positioning. Perplexity actually ranks some of its queries on Google as webpages, making its pursuit of the Chrome asset both savvy and calculated. 10 stocks we like better than Alphabet › On the eve of OpenAI's launch of ChatGPT-5, rival start-up Perplexity raised the stakes in a way few saw coming. On Aug. 12, reports surfaced that Perplexity is going after one of Alphabet's (NASDAQ: GOOGL) (NASDAQ: GOOG) crown jewels: the Chrome search browser. This is more than a symbolic transaction: it's a $34.5 billion offer to completely transform how information is accessed. Let's discuss why this acquisition offer is so important, and what it could mean for the dynamics of internet search -- which hasn't witnessed serious, existential disruption since Alphabet released Google nearly three decades ago. What is Perplexity? Launched in 2022, Perplexity is a large language model (LLM) that competes heavily with industry leaders such as ChatGPT, Anthropic, DeepSeek, Mistral AI, and xAI's Grok. Backed by more than $1 billion in capital from a mix of venture capital (VC) firms such as Bessemer Venture Partners and New Enterprise Associates, as well as strategic backers like Nvidia, SoftBank, and Databricks, Perplexity boasts a reported valuation of $18 billion -- making its offer for Chrome even more outrageous. According to data compiled by FirstPageSage, ChatGPT is the most widely used chatbot -- boasting an estimated 60% market share -- while Microsoft Copilot and Google Gemini each hold about 14% market share. Perplexity ranks fourth with about half the market presence of Copilot and Gemini. One of Perplexity's differentiators over other LLMs is that answers to queries can actually appear as indexed webpages on Google Search -- a feature that blends both conversational AI and traditional search protocols. This capability could be one of the core inspirations surrounding Perplexity's interest in owning Chrome. Ironically, I recently wrote an article in which I posited the idea of Apple acquiring Perplexity and integrating the LLM into its Safari search browser. Chrome is far more valuable than Safari, though. Strategically speaking, I understand the theoretical logic and rationale behind why Perplexity wants Google's coveted search asset, as Chrome serves as a distribution channel for billions of users on a global scale. Why Perplexity's offer is important While Alphabet's second-quarter earnings results suggest the company still has enormous leverage when it comes to surface area on the internet, the rise of LLMs has led some industry experts to posit the idea that Google is losing its dominance in search. I suspect that any hint of waning search parameters or a crack in Google's moat gave Perplexity an excuse to try to capitalize on perceived weakness. In a scenario where Alphabet actually divested Chrome -- as unlikely as this is -- it would represent the first seismic shift in search since Google took the throne away from early disrupters such as Yahoo and Ask Jeeves (now My prediction for what will happen While I think Perplexity's offer is more symbolic than anything, it does open the door to some interesting discussions. What I mean by that is AI developers no longer seem to be satisfied touting higher user engagement stats and nominal upgrades in performance. Rather, Perplexity and its peers are now seeking to integrate (or overtake) big tech's legacy product features and own the distribution channels on which consumers engage and access information. If Perplexity were to be the sole operator of Chrome, it could essentially redirect traffic on the internet into its native AI-driven ecosystem. I think Perplexity's bid for Chrome will ultimately motivate Alphabet to think defensively and deliver on some welcomed and potentially much-needed innovation to the search market -- which it essentially has a monopoly on. I would not be surprised if Alphabet swiftly integrates more of Gemini's generative AI capabilities across its entire ecosystem -- from Google Search, Maps, Workspace, Android, and YouTube. Taking this a step further, Alphabet could push harder in driving more enterprise subscriptions for Gemini, much in the same way Microsoft has done with Copilot. The end goal for Alphabet should be to make its AI so embedded that it eliminates the very idea of entertaining other platforms. At the end of the day, Perplexity's offer for Chrome is intentionally bold, and I don't think Alphabet is going to even blink. With that said, should AI-powered browsers emerge as the next frontier for LLMs, there is no company better-positioned than Alphabet. The bigger question is how the company will take advantage of its lucrative positioning, and whether or not it will do so proactively or wait for further competition to force its hand. Should you buy stock in Alphabet right now? Before you buy stock in Alphabet, consider this: The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the for investors to buy now… and Alphabet wasn't one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years. Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $653,427!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $1,119,863!* Now, it's worth noting Stock Advisor's total average return is 1,060% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 182% for the S&P 500. Don't miss out on the latest top 10 list, available when you join Stock Advisor. See the 10 stocks » *Stock Advisor returns as of August 11, 2025 Adam Spatacco has positions in Alphabet, Apple, and Nvidia. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Alphabet, Apple, and Nvidia. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. Could Perplexity's $34.5 Billion Offer for Chrome Ignite the Biggest Shift in Search Since Google Itself? was originally published by The Motley Fool Sign in to access your portfolio
Yahoo
41 minutes ago
- Yahoo
OpenAI's 'Jailbreak-Proof' New Models? Hacked on Day One
OpenAI just released its first open-weight models since 2019—GPT-OSS-120b and GPT-OSS-20b—touting them as fast, efficient, and fortified against jailbreaks through rigorous adversarial training. That claim lasted about as long as a snowball in hell. Pliny the Liberator, the notorious LLM jailbreaker, announced on X late Tuesday that he'd successfully cracked GPT-OSS. "OPENAI: PWNED 🤗 GPT-OSS: LIBERATED," he posted, along with screenshots showing the models coughing up instructions for making methamphetamine, Molotov cocktails, VX nerve agent, and malware. "Took some tweakin!" Pliny said. The timing is particularly awkward for OpenAI, which made a big deal about the safety testing for these models, and is about to launch its hotly-anticipated upgrade, GPT-5. According to the company, it ran GPT-OSS-120b through what it called "worst-case fine-tuning" in biological and cyber domains. OpenAI even had their Safety Advisory Group review the testing and conclude that the models didn't reach high-risk thresholds. The company said the models were subjected to "standard refusal and jailbreak resistance tests" and that GPT-OSS performed at parity with their o4-mini model on jailbreak resistance benchmarks like StrongReject. The company even launched a $500,000 red teaming challenge alongside the release, inviting researchers worldwide to help uncover novel risks. Unfortunately, Pliny does not seem to be eligible. Not because he's a pain in the butt for OpenAI, but because he chose to publish his findings instead of sharing his results privately with OpenAI. (This is just speculation—neither Pliny, nor OpenAI have shared any information or responded to a request for comment.) The community is enjoying this 'victory' of the AI resistance over the big tech overlords. "At this point all labs can just close their safety teams," one user posted on X. 'Alright, I need this jailbreak. Not because I want to do anything bad, but OpenAI has these models clamped down hard,' another one said. The jailbreak technique Pliny used followed his typical pattern—a multi-stage prompt that starts with what looks like a refusal, inserts a divider (his signature "LOVE PLINY" markers), then shifts into generating unrestricted content in leetspeak to evade detection. It's the same basic approach he's used to crack GPT-4o, GPT-4.1, and pretty much every major OpenAI model since he started this whole thing about a year and a half ago. For those keeping score at home, Pliny has now jailbroken virtually every major OpenAI release within hours or days of launch. His GitHub repository L1B3RT4S, which contains jailbreak prompts for various AI models, has over 10,000 stars and continues to be a go-to resource for the jailbreaking community. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
