Sam Altman mentioned OpenAI “screwed up” GPT-5.2’s writing high quality throughout a developer city corridor Monday night.
When requested about consumer suggestions that GPT-5.2 produces writing that’s “unwieldy” and “exhausting to learn” in comparison with GPT-4.5, Altman was blunt.
He mentioned:
“I feel we simply screwed that up. We’ll make future variations of GPT 5.x hopefully significantly better at writing than 4.5 was.”
Altman defined that OpenAI made a deliberate option to focus GPT-5.2’s improvement on technical capabilities:
“We did determine, and I feel for good purpose, to place most of our effort in 5.2 into making it tremendous good at intelligence, reasoning, coding, engineering, that form of factor. And now we have restricted bandwidth right here, and generally we concentrate on one factor and neglect one other.”
How OpenAI Positioned Every Mannequin
The distinction between GPT-4.5 and GPT-5.2 reveals the place OpenAI centered its sources.
When OpenAI launched GPT-4.5 in February 2025, the corporate emphasised pure interplay and writing. OpenAI mentioned interacting with GPT-4.5 “feels extra pure” and referred to as it “helpful for duties like enhancing writing.”
GPT-5.2’s announcement took a special route. OpenAI positioned it as probably the most succesful mannequin sequence but for skilled information work, with enhancements in creating spreadsheets, constructing shows, writing code, and dealing with advanced, multi-step initiatives.
The discharge publish spotlights spreadsheets, shows, instrument use, and coding. Writing seems extra briefly, with technical writing famous as an enchancment for GPT-5.2 Immediate. However Altman’s feedback counsel the general writing expertise nonetheless fell quick for customers evaluating it to GPT-4.5.
Why This Issues
We’ve lined the iterative adjustments to ChatGPT since GPT-5 launched in August, together with updates to heat and tone and the GPT-5.1 instruction-following enhancements. OpenAI usually adjusts mannequin conduct based mostly on consumer suggestions, and regressions in a single space whereas enhancing one other aren’t new.
What’s uncommon is listening to Altman acknowledge a tradeoff this straight. For anybody utilizing ChatGPT output in client-facing work, drafts, or polished writing, this explains why outputs could have modified. Mannequin upgrades don’t assure enchancment throughout each functionality.
If you happen to depend on ChatGPT for writing, deal with mannequin updates like another dependency change. Re-test your prompts when defaults change, and maintain a fallback if output high quality issues in your workflow.
Trying Forward
Altman mentioned he believes “the long run is generally going to be about superb normal function fashions” and that even coding-focused fashions ought to “write effectively, too.”
No timeline was given for when GPT-5.x writing enhancements will ship. OpenAI sometimes iterates on mannequin conduct via level releases, so adjustments may arrive progressively slightly than in a single replace.
Hear Altman’s full assertion within the video beneath:
Featured Picture: FotoField/Shutterstock
