GPT-5 or o3 — Which Model Will OpenAI Release Next?
In February, OpenAI announced it would release its next model — the successor to GPT-4. The launch of this next generation was expected to take a few weeks. But what exactly is this model?
Is GPT-5 Finally Coming?
CEO Sam Altman stated in a post on X that he envisions the future of GPT-5 as a single model with an integrated reasoning module.
“We’ve managed to make GPT-5 better than we initially expected. We also found that integrating everything seamlessly was harder than we thought. And we want to ensure we have enough resources to meet the strong demand we expect,” Altman said.
So they’ve improved it, but it still sounds more like a router than a breakthrough model.
He also mentioned that the release of GPT-5 is now delayed by several months.
OpenAI added that it would not provide immediate wide access to the new model. Initially, it will be available only on paid subscription tiers, and if any misuse is detected, access will be restricted.
AI developers are working on two fronts — building the models themselves and the chatbots or interfaces that use them. The latter now face competition from AI ecosystems that offer access to multiple models, like Overchat AI, which includes DALL·E, Claude Sonnet 3.7, Grok-2 Beta, and more.
Who Will Get Access to GPT-5?
ChatGPT Plus subscribers will get access to GPT-5 about a day ahead of others, and those on the ChatGPT Pro plan will get an even higher level of early access.
GPT-5 is expected to include voice input, Canvas, search, deep research capabilities, and many other features. Altman outlined these in a January 2024 post on X. He also referenced features recently introduced in ChatGPT.
“Our main goal is to advance our ideas by building systems that everyone can use. Our tools are meant to help when you need to think — and even when you don’t — to be broadly useful across a wide range of tasks,” Altman said.
OpenAI also faces competition from other AI developers like the Chinese lab DeepSeek, which shares its models with the research community and even allows them to be used commercially.
Besides GPT-5, Altman also wants to release the first open-source language model since GPT-2. This is expected in the coming months — the model is currently undergoing additional safety checks. That model is, of course, o3.
GPT-5 is said to be a unified model with built-in reasoning capabilities — essentially an all-in-one solution. That requires more time for fine-tuning and bug fixing. Additionally, Altman confirmed OpenAI’s plans to release an open model that will also feature reasoning abilities, similar to o3-mini.
Which Will Come First — GPT-5 or o3?
In addition to GPT-5, OpenAI is developing another model line — the o-series, which already includes o1, o3-mini, and o3-mini-high. These models are currently available in ChatGPT and are focused on advanced reasoning, fast logical thinking, and solving technical problems. They are especially strong in programming and analytics — as explicitly stated in the interface.
Importantly, in April 2025, Sam Altman confirmed that a full version of o3 (potentially a more powerful iteration of the current mini-models) is still in the pipeline, with a release expected within weeks. OpenAI is deliberately developing the o-series as a separate direction to explore architectural ideas different from the GPT line. It’s also possible that o3 will become the open model OpenAI has long been hinting at.
It’s likely that both GPT-5 and o3 will be released at different times but nearly in parallel. Both are expected to appear in Overchat, where users can already switch between different OpenAI models depending on the task.
o3 — OpenAI’s Hidden Favorite?
While GPT-5 is positioned as a general-purpose model with enhanced reasoning, o3 is a specialized tool tailored for logic, analysis, and programming. Unlike GPT-5, which will likely remain partially closed, o3 might become the first open model from OpenAI since GPT-2.
Currently, ChatGPT already includes o3-mini and o3-mini-high, which show impressive performance in solving math problems, code generation, and analytics. Insiders say the full o3 will be significantly more powerful while maintaining compactness and speed.
The o3 model may be released as soon as May or June 2025, as its development nears completion. GPT-5, according to Altman’s statements, won’t appear before late summer — possibly fall.
At the same time, OpenAI could use o3 as a testing ground — if it performs well, the company may accelerate the development of open-source solutions.
Which is Better — GPT-5 or o3?
It depends heavily on the use case: GPT-5 is for a wide range of uses, from creative to complex multimodal scenarios, while o3 is for developers, analysts, and anyone who needs high accuracy and logical performance.
The o3 model is a task-specific tool, especially strong in math, analytics, and coding. A full version would be a natural evolution of the already successful mini versions, offering better performance and greater stability.
You can already try o3-mini and o3-mini-high in ChatGPT, and according to developer feedback, OpenAI is betting heavily on them. The full version of o3 promises to be significantly more powerful and better optimized.
The next few months are set to be exciting in the AI model space. But whether the favorite among users and developers will be the flexible, universal GPT-5 or the specialized, fast o3 — only time will tell. It’s even possible that OpenAI may eventually merge both into a hybrid system. For now, it’s a waiting game — our eyes are on the announcements.
