OpenAI has officially launched ChatGPT-5, the latest version of its flagship AI chatbot, marking a major leap in artificial intelligence capabilities. The model is now available free to all users, with nearly 700 million people using ChatGPT weekly.
CEO Sam Altman described ChatGPT-5 as “generally intelligent,” comparing its performance to that of a PhD-level expert across fields like coding, writing, and healthcare.
While not yet capable of continuous learning, Altman emphasized the model’s “huge improvement” over previous versions and hinted at future breakthroughs on the path to artificial general intelligence (AGI).
OpenAI also introduced two open-weight language models that users can download and modify, challenging similar offerings from competitors.
As tech giants like Amazon, Google, Meta, Microsoft, and xAI ramp up investments in AI, Altman acknowledged the “eye-watering” compute power required to stay ahead.
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg called the rise of superintelligence “the beginning of a new era for humanity.”
OpenAI’s safety team says ChatGPT-5 was trained to be trustworthy and honest, with safeguards to prevent harmful outputs.
Despite praise from experts like Simon Willison, who called it “just good at stuff,” Elon Musk claimed his Grok 4 Heavy model is “smarter” than ChatGPT-5.
