No, “GPT Next” is not OpenAI’s next big step.

Earlier this week, Tadao Nagasaki, head of OpenAI’s Japan operations, gave a presentation at Japan’s KDDI summit revealing that a new model called “GPT Next” would be released soon.

But an OpenAI spokesperson confirmed to Mashable that the term “GPT Next,” written in quotation marks on the slide, was merely a figurative placeholder to indicate how OpenAI’s models could evolve exponentially over time. The spokesperson also clarified that the line graph in the slide was for illustrative purposes only, not an actual timeline of OpenAI’s plans.

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“The AI ​​model called ‘GPT Next’ that will be released in the future will evolve nearly 100 times based on previous performance. Unlike traditional software, AI technology grows exponentially,” Nagasaki said, according to Japanese outlet ITmedia via automated translation. The wording caused some confusion online, as “GPT Next” was taken to mean a literal new model rather than a figurative representation of where OpenAI models are headed.

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However, it is unclear whether the OpenAI director was talking generally about OpenAI’s future model development or specifically about the long-awaited GPT-5.

Not much is known about GPT-5, aside from promises from CEO Sam Altman that it will be a “significant leap forward” and CTO Mira Murati, who says it will have Ph.D.-level intelligence. But Altman also said there’s still a lot of work to be done with GPT-5, and there’s no specific timeline yet.

Currently, OpenAI’s most advanced model is GPT-4o, which combines text, vision, and audio modalities. There’s also something called “Project Strawberry,” which Altman announced. Strawberry, another much-hyped tool, is said to be capable of multi-step reasoning, bridging the gap between current models that require step-by-step instructions and agents, which can theoretically perform complex tasks with a single prompt.

While rumors of Project Strawberry have fueled the AI ​​hype cycle somewhat, expectations are being tempered this time around by waning investor interest and the high cost of running AI models, not to mention the negative reaction from consumers to AI-powered features. That said, OpenAI is reportedly in talks with Apple and Nvidia (and Microsoft) to invest in its latest funding round, which would give the company a $100 billion valuation. So the world’s three largest tech companies definitely see more potential in OpenAI.

In short, “GPT Next” isn’t a thing. But whether it’s a presentation at a conference in Japan or rumors of Project Strawberry, people are watching OpenAI’s next steps closely, and expectations are high.