On December 20, OpenAI debuted its highly anticipated o3 model, marking a major leap from its previous o1 reasoning model. The o3 family consists of two versions: the full o3 and the more streamlined o3-mini, designed for specific tasks. This release came as the grand finale of OpenAI’s 12-day “shipmas” event.

The o3 model has raised eyebrows in the AI community, with OpenAI claiming it’s edging closer to artificial general intelligence (AGI). While this bold assertion comes with caveats, the o3 has shown significant progress, particularly in reasoning tasks like problem-solving and fact-checking, though it’s slightly slower than non-reasoning models. In benchmark tests, o3 outperformed its predecessor, o1, by substantial margins, scoring impressively across programming tasks, mathematics, and science exams.

OpenAI deliberately skipped naming the model "o2" to avoid a possible trademark issue with the British telecom company O2. According to The Information, this decision was made in light of such concerns, which OpenAI CEO Sam Altman partially confirmed during a livestream. As Altman remarked, "Strange world we live in, isn't it?"

Notably, the model excels at handling complex tasks, with its ability to adjust “reasoning time” for greater performance on higher compute settings. OpenAI’s o3 also performed strongly in the ARC-AGI test, scoring 87.5% on its highest compute setting, suggesting progress toward AGI.

While safety researchers can sign up for early access to o3-mini starting today, OpenAI has taken a cautious approach, with full public availability expected by early 2025. The company has emphasized deliberative alignment to ensure the model's safety, addressing potential risks such as deceptive behaviour seen in previous models like o1.

Despite the model’s promise, OpenAI faces challenges—reasoning models like o3 require significant computational resources and are costly to run. As OpenAI continues to push the boundaries of AI, the company is also encountering competition from rivals like Google, who are ramping up their own efforts in reasoning models.

With o3's release, OpenAI cements its leadership in AI development, but the road to AGI remains fraught with challenges and uncertainty.