{"id":21232,"date":"2025-07-24T19:21:08","date_gmt":"2025-07-24T19:21:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/21232\/"},"modified":"2025-07-24T19:21:08","modified_gmt":"2025-07-24T19:21:08","slug":"openai-prepares-to-launch-gpt-5-in-august","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/21232\/","title":{"rendered":"OpenAI prepares to launch GPT-5 in August"},"content":{"rendered":"

Earlier this year, I heard that Microsoft engineers were preparing server capacity<\/a> for OpenAI\u2019s next-generation GPT-5 model, arriving as soon as late May. After some additional testing and delays, sources familiar with OpenAI\u2019s plans tell me that GPT-5 is now expected to launch as early as next month.<\/p>\n

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman recently revealed on X<\/a> that \u201cwe are releasing GPT-5 soon\u201d and even teased some of its capabilities in a podcast appearance<\/a> with Theo Von earlier this week. Altman decided to let GPT-5 take a stab at a question he didn\u2019t understand. \u201cI put it in the model, this is GPT-5, and it answered it perfectly,\u201d Altman said. He described it as a \u201chere it is moment,\u201d adding that he \u201cfelt useless relative to the AI\u201d because he felt like he should have been able to answer the question but GPT-5 answered it instantly. \u201cIt was a weird feeling.\u201d<\/p>\n

GPT-5 had already been spotted in the wild<\/a> before Altman\u2019s appearance on This Past Weekend, fueling speculation that the next-generation GPT model was imminent. I understand OpenAI is planning to launch GPT-5 in early August, complete with mini and nano versions that will also be available through its API.<\/p>\n

I reached out to OpenAI to comment on the launch of GPT-5 in August, but the company did not respond in time for publication.<\/p>\n

Altman referred to<\/a> GPT-5 as \u201ca system that integrates a lot of our technology\u201d earlier this year, because it will include the o3 reasoning capabilities instead of shipping those in a separate model. It\u2019s part of OpenAI\u2019s ongoing efforts to simplify and combine its large language models to make a more capable system that can eventually be declared artificial general intelligence, or AGI.<\/p>\n

The declaration of AGI is particularly important to OpenAI, because achieving it will force Microsoft to relinquish its rights to OpenAI revenue and its future AI models. Microsoft and OpenAI have been renegotiating their partnership recently<\/a>, as OpenAI needs Microsoft\u2019s approval to convert part of its business to a for-profit company. It\u2019s unlikely that GPT-5 will meet the AGI threshold that\u2019s reportedly linked<\/a> to OpenAI\u2019s profits. Altman previously said that GPT-5 won\u2019t have a \u201cgold level of capability for many months\u201d after launch.<\/p>\n

Unifying its o-series and GPT-series models will also reduce the friction of having to know which model to pick for each task in ChatGPT. I understand that the main combined reasoning version of GPT-5 will be available through ChatGPT and OpenAI\u2019s API, and the mini version will also be available on ChatGPT and the API. The nano version of GPT-5 is expected to only be available through the API.<\/p>\n

While GPT-5 looks likely to debut in early August, OpenAI\u2019s planned release dates often shift to respond to development challenges, server capacity issues, or even rival AI model announcements and leaks. Earlier this month, I warned about the possibility of a delay to the open language model<\/a> that OpenAI is also preparing to launch, and Altman confirmed my reporting<\/a> just days after my Notepad issue by announcing a delay \u201cto run additional safety tests and review high-risk areas.\u201d<\/p>\n

I\u2019m still hearing that this open language model is imminent and that OpenAI is trying to ship it before the end of July \u2014 ahead of GPT-5\u2019s release. Sources describe the model as \u201csimilar to o3 mini,\u201d complete with reasoning capabilities. This new model will be the first time that OpenAI has released an open-weight model since its release of GPT-2 in 2019, and it will be available on Azure, Hugging Face, and other large cloud providers.<\/p>\n

Microsoft is in the security hot seat again<\/p>\n

Microsoft made security its top priority<\/a> last year, following years of security issues and mounting criticism after a scathing report from the US Cyber Safety Review Board. The company has been working to improve its \u201cinadequate\u201d security culture ever since. But this week, we were reminded of Microsoft\u2019s challenges once again.<\/p>\n

A major security flaw<\/a> in Microsoft\u2019s on-premises versions of SharePoint allowed hacking groups to exploit a zero-day vulnerability and breach more than 50 organizations \u2014 including the US nuclear weapons agency<\/a>. Security researchers discovered the vulnerability was being exploited on July 18th, and Microsoft issued an alert a day later. Microsoft engineers then spent all weekend working on patches and released updates for SharePoint Subscription Edition and SharePoint 2019 late on July 20th. A patch for SharePoint 2016 servers was released on the morning of July 22nd.<\/p>\n

The previously unpatched flaw appears to have originated from a combination of two bugs<\/a> that were presented at the Pwn2Own hacking contest in May. Microsoft has linked the attacks to two hacking groups<\/a> that are affiliated with the Chinese government, but the company hasn\u2019t disclosed exactly how hackers were able to bypass its patches to create a zero-day exploit.<\/p>\n

The security flaw was only exploitable through on-premises versions of SharePoint, so the Microsoft 365 version of SharePoint Online was unaffected. This certainly limited the scale of damage, but the targeted nature of these attacks will be hugely concerning for Microsoft and the company\u2019s customers. It\u2019s also likely to accelerate a move away from these older versions of SharePoint, which are in the extended support phase until July 2026.<\/p>\n

Complicating the concern around Microsoft\u2019s security practices is a new report from ProPublica<\/a> that warns of a little-known Microsoft program that could expose the US Defense Department to Chinese hackers. Microsoft has been using engineers in China to help maintain the department\u2019s computer systems, with digital escorts that reportedly lack the technical expertise to properly police foreign engineers. It\u2019s a troubling development after the Office of the Director of National Intelligence called China<\/a> the \u201cmost active and persistent cyber threat to US Government, private-sector, and critical infrastructure networks.\u201d<\/p>\n

On the same day the SharePoint exploit was discovered, Microsoft\u2019s head of communications, Frank Shaw, responded<\/a> to the ProRepublica report and announced changes to \u201cassure that no China-based engineering teams are providing technical assistance for DoD Government cloud and related services.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sources tell me that Microsoft\u2019s escort program has now been locked down to only US-based employees for its government cloud data centers in Fairfax, Virginia. Microsoft\u2019s entire threat protection teams were warned about the change on July 23rd, and there are \u201cno exceptions\u201d to the lockdown.<\/p>\n

Still, it\u2019s surprising that such a program even existed, and Microsoft will now face some big questions around why it was using China-based engineers to maintain Defense Department systems. Sen. Tom Cotton has already asked<\/a> the secretary of defense to look into Microsoft\u2019s practices, and I\u2019m sure Microsoft\u2019s security teams are about to be busier than ever this summer.<\/p>\n

Microsoft wants to fix \u2018slow or sluggish\u2019 performance in Windows 11. I\u2019ve regularly heard complaints about Windows 11 responding more slowly than Windows 10 or that gaming performance feeling degraded. Now, Microsoft is looking for feedback on \u201cslow or sluggish\u201d performance<\/a> in test builds of Windows 11. Windows Insiders can automatically submit performance logs, allowing Microsoft to find the root cause of issues ahead of its 25H2 update later this year.Microsoft suddenly kills its movies and TV store on Xbox and Windows. I have to admit I\u2019m not surprised to see the Movies & TV store on Xbox and Windows disappear, but I was surprised at how abruptly Microsoft handled it. There was no warning of a closure, and suddenly, you can no longer purchase new movies or TV shows from the Microsoft Store on Xbox or Windows<\/a>. You\u2019ll still be able to access previously purchased content on your devices, but this will really impact Microsoft\u2019s most loyal customers, who have been building up a library of purchased content instead of pirating it, buying physical copies, or subscribing to a streaming service. Microsoft is now leaving it up to Amazon, Netflix, Apple TV, and the many other streaming video services to offer movies and TV shows on Windows and Xbox.Nvidia and MediaTek reportedly delay Arm-based CPUs due to Windows hurdles. Nvidia\u2019s long-rumored Arm-based CPU looks like it might not debut this year after all. A new report from DigiTimes<\/a> claims Nvidia and MediaTek are facing delays in getting their Arm-based chips ready for Windows due to \u201ca combination of delays in Microsoft\u2019s operating system roadmap, ongoing chip revisions at Nvidia, and weakening demand in the overall notebook market.\u201d Previous rumors<\/a> had suggested an Nvidia Arm-powered gaming laptop would launch later this year with Alienware.The Outer Worlds 2 will no longer be Microsoft\u2019s first $80 Xbox game. Microsoft is no longer pushing ahead with $79.99 Xbox games this holiday season. The Outer Worlds 2 was supposed to be Microsoft\u2019s first, but Obsidian announced a price drop<\/a> back to the top $69.99 pricing. Refunds will be issued to those who preordered the game, but it\u2019s clear that the $79.99 pricing hasn\u2019t gone down well with gamers. I\u2019m surprised that Microsoft picked The Outer Worlds 2 to test its new pricing model, and now it feels like an experiment gone wrong. It\u2019s not clear what will happen to Xbox game pricing beyond the holidays, but Microsoft\u2019s plans are on hold for now.GitHub launches its AI app-making tool in preview. Microsoft-owned GitHub has launched a public preview of GitHub Spark<\/a>, a new tool for Copilot Pro Plus subscribers that lets developers build apps simply by describing their ideas. It\u2019s vibe coding to the max, with the ability to generate everything you need without writing a line of code.Maingear\u2019s Retro95 combines \u201990s-era PC design with modern specs. I love Maingear\u2019s new Retro95 prebuilt system. It\u2019s a horizontal beige desktop with modern components inside<\/a> that tugs at nostalgia. If, like me, you reminisce about the days of Windows 95, floppy disks, and LAN parties, then the Retro95 can be configured with AMD\u2019s latest Ryzen 7 9800X3D, an RTX 5080, and even 96GB of RAM. Prices start at $1,599, but if you want a full-spec version, with multiple SSDs, then it will set you back more than $7,000.Microsoft\u2019s new Intel-powered Surface Laptop 5G arrives in August. Microsoft will start shipping a new Surface Laptop 5G version on August 26th. Powered by Intel\u2019s Core Ultra Series 2 processors, this 5G version of the Surface Laptop 7<\/a> will include an NPU capable of delivering Microsoft\u2019s latest Copilot Plus AI features. The Surface Laptop 5G is very similar to the existing 13.8-inch Surface Laptop 7 model, except Microsoft has made some internal changes to accommodate a 5G modem and support for a physical nano SIM on the side of the laptop, as well as eSIMs. Prices start at $1,799 for businesses, and the top of the range model, with a Core Ultra 7 processor, 32GB of RAM, and 1TB storage, will be priced at $2,699.Xbox cloud games will soon follow you across Xbox, PC, and Windows handhelds. Microsoft has started to test a new play history section of the Xbox PC app and Xbox console home UI<\/a> that will display cloud games as part of the recently played titles list. This will roam across Xbox consoles, PCs, and handhelds, allowing you to pick up games where you left off across multiple devices. Cloud-playable games are also now starting to show inside play history or the library on the Xbox PC app.Windows 11\u2019s new update will add a bunch of AI features. Microsoft has started rolling out a bunch of new AI features in Windows 11<\/a>, including its Copilot Vision tool that can scan everything on your screen. Qualcomm-powered Copilot Plus PCs can also now access an AI-powered agent within the Settings app, letting you search for specific settings with natural language queries. Click to Do is getting more useful, too, allowing Copilot Plus PC owners to quickly complete actions like summarizing a paragraph by holding down the Windows key and left clicking on an app, text, or website.WhatsApp is dropping its native Windows app in favor of an uglier web version. WhatsApp has been one of the best examples of a modern Windows app, complete with WinUI design elements that make it feel part of Windows 11. All that is going away soon, though, as Meta has decided to switch back to an uglier web version<\/a> that\u2019s just a wrapper for the WhatsApp web service. It\u2019s a disappointing change that will mean WhatsApp will not only look different on Windows, but the neat Settings interface will be gone and notifications won\u2019t work in the background.You can now lock your Windows 11 PC from your Android phone. Microsoft has issued a new update for its Phone Link tool that will allow you to remotely lock your PC<\/a> with the tap of a button. My EV lets me lock my doors remotely if I\u2019m forgetful enough to not lock them with my key fob, and being able to lock my laptop from afar will be equally useful if I\u2019m using it in a shared space. Windows offers a dynamic lock feature that can automatically lock your PC if your phone is connected over Bluetooth, but this new Phone Link feature can be triggered manually and doesn\u2019t need a Bluetooth connection.Microsoft poaches more Google DeepMind AI talent. Microsoft has hired more than 20 employees from Google\u2019s DeepMind AI team in recent months, according to the Financial Times<\/a>. Amar Subramanya, the former head of engineering for Google\u2019s Gemini chatbot, revealed on LinkedIn<\/a> that he has recently joined Microsoft as a VP under Mustafa Suleyman\u2019s Microsoft AI team. Suleyman cofounded Google DeepMind and is now leading Microsoft\u2019s consumer AI efforts. Jacob Andreou, who spent eight years at Snap, also joined<\/a> the Microsoft AI team recently, leading product, design, and growth.Windows 11 is getting a new shared audio feature. Microsoft has been greatly improving its audio support in Windows 11 in recent years, and now a shared audio feature is coming soon. Windows watcher phantomofearth has discovered references<\/a> to the shared audio feature in the latest test builds of Windows 11, and it should let you play audio through multiple output devices or different collections of speakers.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m always keen to hear from readers, so please drop a comment here, or you can reach me at notepad@theverge.com<\/a> if you want to discuss anything else. If you\u2019ve heard about any of Microsoft\u2019s secret projects, you can reach me via email at notepad@theverge.com<\/a> or speak to me confidentially on the Signal messaging app, where I\u2019m tomwarren.01<\/a>. I\u2019m also tomwarren on Telegram, if you\u2019d prefer to chat there.<\/p>\n

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