Sam Altman Unveils OpenAI’s Plan to Unify AI Models Under a Single System

In a bold move reminiscent of Steve Jobs’ approach to simplification, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has announced a major restructuring of the company’s AI product lineup. OpenAI plans to merge its diverse collection of models into a single unified system, streamlining its offerings and making AI more accessible.

The decision comes shortly after Chinese competitor DeepSeek introduced a simpler yet highly capable AI, raising concerns that OpenAI’s more fragmented approach might be falling behind.

A Shift Towards Unified Intelligence

Altman outlined the company’s new direction, stating that OpenAI aims to improve transparency regarding its roadmap and drastically simplify its AI products. He acknowledged that the current lineup—including GPT for creative tasks, “o” for reasoning, DALL·E for image generation, Sora for video, and GPT-Vision for visual understanding—had become too complex for users.

Referencing Jobs’ iconic phrase, Altman stressed that OpenAI wanted AI to “just work” and recognized the need for a more intuitive system. To address this, OpenAI plans to eliminate the need for users to choose between different AI versions for different tasks.

The company’s long-term goal is to create a single, all-encompassing AI, integrating both o-series and GPT-series models into a system that can seamlessly switch between different modes of intelligence. This AI will be capable of leveraging various tools, determining when to engage in deep reasoning, and adapting to a broad range of tasks.

GPT-4.5 and the Transition to GPT-5

As the first step toward this unified AI, OpenAI is preparing to launch GPT-4.5, internally referred to as “Orion.” Expected within the coming weeks or months, it will be the last model built on traditional GPT technology, marking the end of the current ChatGPT framework.

The real transformation, however, will arrive with GPT-5, which will consolidate all of OpenAI’s existing AI capabilities, including the unreleased o3 model. This next-generation system will act as a comprehensive AI hub, capable of performing creative writing, generating images, engaging in complex reasoning, and coding—all without requiring users to select a specific model for each task.

Addressing the Limitations of AI Reasoning

Historically, OpenAI’s reasoning models have used a technique called “chain-of-thought”, which allows AI to break down a problem into intermediate steps before reaching a conclusion. However, these models have typically struggled with creative tasks, while creativity-focused models like GPT-4.5 have shown weaknesses in reasoning, particularly in zero-shot prompting (where users expect AI to complete complex tasks without additional context).

With GPT-5, OpenAI aims to eliminate these trade-offs, creating an AI that can handle both reasoning and creativity with equal proficiency.

Free Access and New Subscription Tiers

Perhaps in response to the competitive pressure from DeepSeek, which recently launched an advanced AI model as a free open-source alternative, OpenAI has confirmed that GPT-5 will be available in ChatGPT’s free tier.

• Free users will receive unlimited access to the standard intelligence setting, with usage monitored to prevent abuse.
• Paid users will gain access to higher intelligence settings, allowing them to utilize more computational power for complex tasks.
• Pro users will be granted access to the most advanced version of GPT-5, optimized for professional and research applications.

Implications for Developers and API Costs

With this shift, OpenAI will discontinue standalone reasoning/coding models, including o3, incorporating their features directly into GPT-5 instead.

For developers using OpenAI’s API, this means a more streamlined integration process, as they will no longer need to choose between different models. Instead, a single system will handle a wide array of tasks. However, concerns have been raised that this approach could increase computing power demands, potentially making certain applications less cost-effective.

OpenAI has not yet disclosed how API costs will be affected, though Altman remains confident in the new system’s capabilities. He recently described GPT-5 as so advanced that he no longer expects to be smarter than it, emphasizing its groundbreaking potential during a panel discussion in Berlin.

With GPT-5 poised to redefine AI integration, OpenAI is taking a major step toward a future where AI seamlessly adapts to user needs—without the complexity of multiple models.

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