OpenAI's GPT -5 has landed with a thud despite strong benchmark scores and praise from early testers. Why it matters: A lot rides on every launch of a major new large language model, since training these programs is a massive endeavor that can require months or years and billions of dollars.

GPT-5 was touted as a major upgrade to ChatGPT, but not everyone thinks that’s the case: “Kill 4o isn’t innovation, it’s erasure.”

For years, CEO Sam Altman and his crack team of AI engineers hyped up GPT-5 as if it would be a fantastic leap in the grand scheme of AI models. Its coming was augured as borderline biblical among the San Fran-centric tech elite.