An OpenAI spokesperson, trying to clear the air, said, “We don’t have plans to release a model code-named Orion this year. We do plan to release a lot of other great technology.” This contradicts a report from The Verge that claims that OpenAI investor and partner Microsoft will have access to Orion as soon as next month. OpenAI had previously told TechCrunch that the report from The Verge was not accurate. TechCrunch did say that even if the Orion model isn’t released this year, a new version of ChatGPT could be released in December.
The Gemini Android app. | Image credit-PhoneArena
While that sounds a tad confusing, Google’s upcoming release of Gemini 2.0 isn’t going as seamlessly as the search giant would like. Per The Verge, the upcoming Gemini model “isn’t showing the performance gains the Demis Hassabis-led team had hoped for.” The launch of Gemini 2.0 might end up as an incremental upgrade over Gemini 1.5 Pro which was released to Android handsets last February.
Gemini tells me that Google will release Gemini 2.0 in December. | Image credit-PhoneArena
While OpenAI plans on continuing to release new versions of GPT, it still might release Orion next year or at another time. Orion is considered above OpenAI’s current ChatGPT flagship and is trained on OpenAI’s o1 “reasoning model” which is designed to spend more time thinking before it gives an answer. Orion and ChatGPT are designed for different types of users.
What it isn’t totally clear what OpenAI will release before the end of 2024, things seem clearer on the Google side where even Gemini tells me that Google will release Gemini 2.0 in December.