Big AI companies like OpenAI and Anthropic like to talk about their bold quest for AGI, or artificial general intelligence. The definition of that grail has proved to be somewhat flexible, but in general it refers to AI systems that are as smart as human beings at a wide array of tasks. AI companies have used this "quest" narrative to win investment, fascinate the tech press, and charm policymakers.
OpenAI's August launch of its GPT-5 large language model was somewhat of a disaster. There were glitches during the livestream, with the model generating charts with obviously inaccurate numbers. In a Reddit AMA with OpenAI employees, users complained that the new model wasn't friendly, and called for the company to restore the previous version. Most of all, critics griped that GPT-5 fell short of the stratospheric expectations that OpenAI has been juicing for years. Promised as a game changer, GPT-5 might have indeed played the game better. But it was still the same game.
Big names in Silicon Valley collectively seem to be saying the same thing abut the AI boom lately, namely that it is looking more and more like a bubble, and that the rush to AGI (artificial general intelligence) may be very misguided. The Wall Street Journal has a report today that Meta's widely buzzed-about AI hiring spree is coming to an abrupt halt, likely due to scrutiny by high-profile investors who are balking at the massive sums being thrown at poached AI researchers and engineers.