Microsoft and OpenAI have a very specific, internal definition of artificial general intelligence (AGI) based on the startup’s profits, according to a new report from The Information. And by this definition, OpenAI is many years away from reaching it.
The two companies reportedly signed an agreement last year stating OpenAI has only achieved AGI when it develops AI systems that can generate at least $100 billion in profits. That’s far from the rigorous technical and philosophical definition of AGI many expect.
This year, OpenAI is reportedly set to lose billions of dollars, and the startup tells investors it won’t turn a profit until 2029.
This is an important detail because Microsoft loses access to OpenAI’s technology when the startup reaches AGI, a nebulous term that means different things to everyone. Some have speculated OpenAI will declare AGI sooner rather than later to box out Microsoft, but this agreement means Microsoft could have access to OpenAI’s models for a decade or more.
Last week, some debated whether OpenAI’s o3 model was a meaningful step toward AGI. While o3 may perform better than other AI models, it also comes with significant compute costs, which bodes ill for OpenAI and Microsoft’s profit-centric definition of AGI.