Part 5/11:
Before its official name was announced, the model was known internally as Q or QAR (Q-Reasoner). Its development was surrounded by significant internal tensions, notably just prior to the brief ousting of OpenAI CEO Sam Altman last year.
Q’s conceptual roots are deeply connected to fears of artificial general intelligence (AGI)—a hypothetical AI that can understand, learn, and apply knowledge across all tasks similarly to a human. Some researchers inside OpenAI were concerned that Q signaled a rapid escalation toward AGI, potentially bringing unpredictable risks. This concern is rooted in the idea that AGI could evolve uncontrollably, leading to scenarios reminiscent of science fiction, such as Skynet from Terminator.