OpenAI to bring advanced reasoning to AI

NEW YORK — ChatGPT maker OpenAI is working on a novel approach to its artificial intelligence models in a project code-named “Strawberry,” according to a person familiar with the matter and internal documentation reviewed by Reuters.

The project, details of which have not been previously reported, comes as the Microsoft-backed startup races to show that the types of models it offers are capable of delivering advanced reasoning capabilities.

Teams inside OpenAI are working on Strawberry, according to a copy of a recent internal OpenAI document seen by Reuters in May.

Reuters could not ascertain the precise date of the document, which details a plan for how OpenAI intends to use Strawberry to perform research.

The source described the plan to Reuters as a work in progress. The news agency could not establish how close Strawberry is to being publicly available.

How Strawberry works is a tightly kept secret even within OpenAI, the person said.

The document describes a project that uses Strawberry models with the aim of enabling the company’s AI to not just generate answers to queries but to plan ahead enough to navigate the internet autonomously and reliably to perform what OpenAI terms “deep research,” according to the source.

This is something that has eluded AI models to date, according to interviews with more than a dozen AI researchers.

Asked about Strawberry and the details reported in this story, an OpenAI company spokesperson said in a statement: “We want our AI models to see and understand the world more like we do. Continuous research into new AI capabilities is a common practice in the industry, with a shared belief that these systems will improve in reasoning over time.”

The spokesperson did not directly address questions about Strawberry.

The Strawberry project was formerly known as Q*, which Reuters reported last year was already seen inside the company as a breakthrough.

Two sources described viewing earlier this year what OpenAI staffers told them were Q* demos, capable of answering tricky science and math questions out of reach of today’s commercially-available models.

A different source briefed on the matter said OpenAI has tested AI internally that scored over 90 per cent on a MATH dataset, a benchmark of championship math problems. Reuters could not determine if this was the “Strawberry” project.