OpenAI o1: 10 Implications Beyond Generative AI

Just in time for a new wave of model releases: GPT-4.5, Opus 3.5, Gemini 2.0

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You perhaps remember the 6,000-word monster post I published last week about OpenAI’s new model family, the o1 series (o1-preview and o1-mini). I want to remark two things about it.

1. OpenAI o1 is a primitive version of a new kind of AI. It makes no sense to judge a new paradigm from the value of its seed. Let it blossom. Let it sprout.
2. In the introduction of that article, I shared a set of key questions that I said I’d respond to in a separate article. This is that article. One reason why I find it worthwhile to share these insights now, a month after OpenAI announced o1, is that I’ve heard rumors of imminent releases — OpenAI GPT-4.5, Anthropic Opus 3.5, and Gemini 2.0 — although I can confirm nothing. Anyway, whether this week, next week, or in two months, this new wave of models is the prelude to the GPT-5 era, which will be suffused by the implications I’ve enumerated.

Here are the questions, to refresh your memory:

• What does a reasoning AI mean for generative AI (is it generative at all)?
• How will users…