OpenAI May Launch ‘Thinking’ Strawberry AI Seeks $150B Valuation

OpenAI is reportedly close to launching a new model of artificial intelligence that can “think” as it seeks billions in funding.

AI startup prepares for launch Strawberry, its reasoning-centric AI modelthat part of ChatGPTThe Information reported, citing unnamed people familiar with the matter. While the people told The Information that the launch could happen in the next two weeks, Bloomberg reported that the timing is unclear; the latter cited anonymous sources who said a a limited number of users may have access as soon as this week.

Despite being part of ChatGPT, Strawberry would be a stand-alone product, The Information reported, adding that details on how it will be made available to customers are unclear, but one possibility is that the model will be part of the drop-down menu -down from ChatGPT. which allows customers to choose the model they want to use.

Unlike other conversational AI models that respond immediately, Strawberry “reasons” before answering a query, which typically takes 10 to 20 seconds, the people told The Information. It appears that the longer “reasoning” stage helps the model avoid errors and “know” when it should ask follow-up questions.

It appears that the initial version of Strawberry will not be multimodal, meaning it will only take and output text. The model could be priced differently from ChatGPT, which has a free version and different subscription levels, The Information reported, adding that it could also have limits on speed and how many queries users can make per hour.

In July, OpenAI shared a five-level rating system developed to track the progress of general artificial intelligence with employees. The levels go from conversational AI available today (ie chatbots), to AI that could one day perform the same amount of work as an organization. While OpenAI executives believe the startup’s technology is at this self-defined first level, a spokesperson told Bloomberg that the company is close to level two; OpenAI described level two as “Reasoners,” or AI that can solve basic problems and is assumed to be at the level of a human with a PhD but no access to tools.

OpenAI did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Meanwhile, the AI ​​startup is talking to investors about raising $6.5 billion at a $150 billion valuationBloomberg reported. There is also talk of collecting $5 billion in debt from banks. The venture capital firm Thrive Capital is leading the round with an investment of about $1 billion, the Wall Street Journal reported, while chip maker Nvidia (NVDA), Apple (AAPL), and Microsoft (MSFT) are reported discussing supporting the company.