Comment by zoogeny

> What does "GPT-5" and "GPT-6" even mean?

That is a short hand for "the next two generations of LLMs created by Open AI". It is not meant to be a forward looking statement on how those models will be branded in the consumer market. It also isn't meant to be a prophecy that OpenAI will maintain its premier position since Anthropic or even a new entrant into the field might be the company to achieve that next step level.

> I think it's even more expensive and challenging to organize and harness the brainpower

Then you should invest with that in mind. What I find interesting is that Microsoft (with its acquisition of the research arm of inflection) and Google (with its acquisition of the research arm of character.ai) seem to see the foundational model and product categories as distinct. It is that distinction I am interested in.

There is no doubt some huge value in productizing these LLMs. However, it appears that the productization of LLMs and the advancement of the foundational models themselves are being decoupled by the market. That is, it seems they are segregating risk. Product companies can raise money to build products, "platform" companies (e.g. Microsoft, Google) can raise money to build foundational models. What seems less popular based on these recent moves is companies able to raise money to build foundational models for the purposes of specific products.