Rumors point to a major ChatGPT update coming soon

There are rumors that sometime in the next week or two we will see major updates to two of the leading artificial intelligence chatbots – namely ChatGPT and Claude.

One of the biggest rumors revolves around the underlying models that drive the intelligence of both platforms. We’ve been expecting major and minor releases of Claude 3.5 since the launch of Sonnet earlier this year, and an update to OpenAI’s GPT-4 family is long overdue.

Some features fell by the wayside or were teased, particularly by OpenAI. This includes the integration of SearchGPT and the full version of its o1 reasoning model. However, Anthropic has just released a new iPad version of the Claude app and given its mobile apps an update – perhaps in preparation for the rumored new model.

There are no specific dates for when this will happen, but throughout the year both OpenAI and Anthropic have announced upgrades through the fall. When I look outside, the leaves on the trees are starting to turn orange and pumpkins are in the stores, meaning they are falling to me. And that suggests the updates could be imminent.

What can we expect in the AI space?

(Image credit: OpenAI)

Rumors about updates are nothing new to me as a technology journalist. I’ve written many stories speculating about new features in the next version of iOS, a button change on the side of a pair of headphones, or a camera update in the latest smartphone.

While we’re now starting to see feature add-ons for generative AI chatbots – ChatGPT Canvas or Claude Artifacts are good examples of these – these rumors often revolve around model changes. An update of a model corresponds to an upgrade to a new operating system, i.e. from iOS 17 to 18 or Windows 10 to 11, and not a simple function update.

We’re expecting something new this year and I’d still bet on it being the next big upgrade to the GPT family.

OpenAI introduced its latest GPT-4 update in the spring with GPT-4.0 or its native multimodal Omni model version of GPT-4. Subsequently, the Reasoning Model 01 was released, which many speculators believe is still based on the GPT-4 family, at least the preview of the mini versions we have seen. What we didn’t have is a GPT-4.5, whether in the Omni, 01 or Mini variant – or even the long-rumored GPT-5.

There is speculation that we may never see GPT-4.5 or GPT-5 because OpenAI is moving away from this type of labeling. Sam Altman himself has said that there is a difference between the o1 model category and the GPT models. But we’re expecting something new this year and I’d still bet on it being the next big upgrade to the GPT family.

As far as Anthropic is concerned, the updates are pretty regular. In June we saw the release of Claude 3.5 Sonnet – this was the mid-range model. The Claude family comes in three variants: Haiku, which corresponds to the GPT Mini or Gemini Flash; Sonnet, the mid-range model; and Opus, the very large model with high parameters. All we’ve seen of the 3.5 family of Claude models so far is Sonnet, and everyone is speculating that Opus is coming soon.

Why is this such a big deal?

Screenshot from ChatGPT

(Image credit: Screenshot from ChatGPT)

With every new model comes a new level of functionality and performance. Some of these functions are closed by guardrails. For example, we know for sure that GPT-4.0 can create images, vector graphics, and can sing the voice version, and all of these features have been disabled by OpenAI.

When a new model comes to market, it will be better at reasoning and perform better on all standard metrics and benchmarks, enabling improved coding, better writing, and more nuanced conversations with AI. All of this will improve the user experience.

With the release of each new flagship model, this helps refine the smaller versions to make them cheaper, faster and more efficient and enable wider use. This helps us get to the point that Sam Altman describes as “intelligence that is too cheap to measure.”

Unless we get a completely new model, we’ll probably see full adoption of SearchGPT in ChatGPT, wider access to Advanced Voice, and for Anthropic, the ability to have live internet access and code execution in Claude.

Rumors point to a major ChatGPT update coming soon – here’s what we know

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