Bookmark: Rumors are swirling that OpenAI is on the brink of AGI and ASI

“We are now confident we know how to build AGI as we have traditionally understood it,” Altman said in a blog post recently, adding that OpenAI is already starting to look at superintelligence development.
Rumors are swirling that OpenAI is on the brink of AGI and ASI
OpenAI’s progress toward artificial general intelligence (AGI) and artificial superintelligence (ASI) remains uncertain amidst a series of recent developments. While OpenAI has not announced a significant ChatGPT upgrade, it has made strides with the release of the o1 reasoning model and advancements like the Sora text-to-video tool. However, challenges in training next-gen AI models reportedly delay their progress. CEO Sam Altman has convincingly spoken about the approach to AGI, envisioning AI capable of human-like tasks. The potential for ASI, surpassing human cognitive abilities, is also on OpenAI’s horizon, with recent enthusiasm among engineers hinting at a possible impending breakthrough.
AI researcher Gwern suggests that OpenAI might be on the brink of such advancements, possibly even having crossed a critical threshold in AI development. The theorized self-improving capabilities of models like o4 or o5 could automate AI research and development. However, despite the hopeful buzz, this speculation is unconfirmed as OpenAI continues its work behind closed doors, leaving questions about accessibility, affordability, and safety alignment unresolved. Despite this speculative landscape, the industry awaits forthcoming updates on o3 and successive models, as well as the eagerly anticipated GPT-5 release.
Featured writing
Why customer tools are organized wrong
This article reveals a fundamental flaw in how customer support tools are designed—organizing by interaction type instead of by customer—and explains why this fragmentation wastes time and obscures the full picture you need to help users effectively.
Infrastructure shapes thought
The tools you build determine what kinds of thinking become possible. On infrastructure, friction, and building deliberately for thought rather than just throughput.
Server-Side Dashboard Architecture: Why Moving Data Fetching Off the Browser Changes Everything
How choosing server-side rendering solved security, CORS, and credential management problems I didn't know I had.
Books
The Work of Being (in progress)
A book on AI, judgment, and staying human at work.
The Practice of Work (in progress)
Practical essays on how work actually gets done.
Recent writing
We always panic about new tools (and we're always wrong)
Every time a new tool emerges for making or manipulating symbols, we panic. The pattern is so consistent it's almost embarrassing. Here's what happened each time.
Dev reflection - February 03, 2026
I've been thinking about constraints today. Not the kind that block you—the kind that clarify. There's a difference, and most people miss it.
When execution becomes cheap, ideas become expensive
This article reveals a fundamental shift in how organizations operate: as AI makes execution nearly instantaneous, the bottleneck has moved from implementation to decision-making. Understanding this transition is critical for anyone leading teams or making strategic choices in an AI-enabled world.
Notes and related thinking
Bookmark: Sam Altman says OpenAI’s new o3 ‘reasoning’ models begin the ‘next phase’ of AI. Is this AGI?
Explore how OpenAI's new o3 reasoning models could redefine AI and usher in the next phase toward Artificial General Intelligence (AGI).
Bookmark: What fully automated firms will look like
Explore how fully automated firms will revolutionize business operations with AI, optimizing talent and decision-making for unprecedented growth.
Bookmark: OpenAI's ‘Deep Research’ Can Actually Make Professional Reports With Citations
Unlock the power of OpenAI's Deep Research to generate professional reports with citations, saving you hours on complex research tasks.