OpenAI's Spud and GPT 6 Leaks...
OpenAI has reportedly completed pre-training of 'Spud,' their next major AI model, and made the dramatic decision to shut down Sora video generation and kill a Disney licensing deal to redirect computing resources toward this new model. The company has created an AGI deployment division and is building a unified super app, with Spud expected to launch within weeks.
Summary
OpenAI has completed the pre-training phase of 'Spud,' their internal codename for what could be GPT-6, around March 24th, 2026, according to reporting from The Information. CEO Sam Altman reportedly told employees this model can 'really accelerate the economy,' suggesting a significant capability leap rather than an incremental update. The model is being trained at OpenAI's Stargate facility in Abilene, Texas. To prioritize Spud's development, OpenAI made the dramatic decision to shut down Sora, their AI video generator, on the same day Spud's pre-training completed. This decision killed advanced licensing talks with Disney worth potentially billions, as video generation was consuming unsustainable amounts of computing power despite generating only $1.4 million in revenue across 9.6 million downloads. The company has undergone significant structural changes, creating an AGI deployment division and operating in 'code red' mode since December 2025 due to competitive pressure from Anthropic's Claude and Google's Gemini. Spud is expected to feature three key capabilities: rebuilt humanlike audio that can handle natural conversation flow and interruptions, native multimodality processing text, images, code and audio simultaneously, and integration into a unified super app combining ChatGPT, Codex, Atlas and other tools. The model represents OpenAI's response to losing market share, with ChatGPT traffic reportedly hitting its lowest point since 2023. Public release is expected within weeks, possibly by April 2026.
Key Insights
- OpenAI completed the pre-training phase of Spud around March 24th, 2026, with CEO Sam Altman telling employees this model can 'really accelerate the economy'
- OpenAI shut down Sora on March 24th, 2026, killing advanced licensing talks with Disney because video generation was consuming unsustainable amounts of computing power despite only generating $1.4 million in revenue
- OpenAI has been in 'code red' state since December 2025 because competitors like Anthropic and Google have caught up, with ChatGPT's traffic share hitting its lowest point since 2023
- OpenAI researchers track models on an expert parity scale, with GPT-5 hitting 38% parity, GPT 5.2 reaching 70.9%, and GPT 5.4 achieving 83% parity with human experts
- Sam Altman reportedly told OpenAI staff in March 2026 that training at the Stargate facility was producing what he believed would be 'the best model in the world, hopefully by a lot'
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