Mashable: No, "GPT Next" is not OpenAI's next big thing.

Earlier this week, Tadao Nagasaki, the lead executive for OpenAI's Japanese operations, shared a presentation at Japan's KDDI Summit that seemed to imply a new model call "GPT Next" was imminent.

But an OpenAI spokesperson has confirmed to Mashable that the term "GPT Next," written in quotations on the slide, was simply 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 illustrative, not an actual timeline of OpenAI's plans.

"The AI ??model called 'GPT Next' that will be released in the future will evolve nearly 100 times based on past performance. Unlike traditional software, AI technology grows exponentially," said Nagasaki according to Japanese outlet ITmedia via automated translation. The phrasing caused some confusion online as "GPT Next" was understood to be a literal new model instead of a figurative representation of where OpenAI models are headed next.

It's unclear, however, whether the OpenAI executive was broadly speaking about the development of OpenAI's future models or specifically about the highly-anticipated 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 a lot of work to do 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 has been teased by Altman. Strawberry, another much-hyped tool is reportedly capable of multi-step reasoning that bridges the gap between current models that require step-by-step instructions, and agents, which can theoretically execute complex tasks with a single prompt.

While rumors about Project Strawberry have somewhat reignited the AI hype cycle, expectations this time around are tempered by waning investor interest, and the high cost of running AI models, not to mention consumer backlash towards AI-powered features. That said, OpenAI is reportedly in talks with Apple and Nvidia (as well as Microsoft) for investing in its latest fundraising round, which would give the company a $100 billion valuation. So the three biggest tech companies in the world definitely see further potential in OpenAI.

In short, "GPT Next" isn't a thing. But whether it's a presentation at a conference in Japan or rumors about Project Strawberry, people are watching OpenAI's next moves closely, and expectations are high.