I heard earlier this year that Microsoft engineers were preparing the server capacity for OpenAI’s next-generation GPT-5, which was expected to arrive as early as May. Sources familiar with OpenAI plans tell me GPT-5 will launch as soon as next month, after some additional testing and delays. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman was recently interviewed by
Openai.””https://x.com/sama/status/1946569252296929727?s=12″”> On X it was revealed that “we will be releasing GPT-5 shortly” and even teased its capabilities. This week, I made a podcast appearance along with Theo Von. Altman let GPT-5 answer a question that he did not understand. Altman said, “I put it into the model, GPT-5 answered it perfectly.” Altman described it as “a here it is moment,” and said that he “felt like a useless AI” because GPT-5 answered the question instantly. It was a strange feeling.
OpenAI did not respond to my request for comment on GPT-5’s launch in August.
Altman referred to GPT-5 as “a system which integrates a great deal of our technology” in the past year because it will include o3 reasoning abilities instead of shipping them as a separate model. OpenAI is combining and simplifying its large language models in order to create a more capable system, which can be declared artificial general Intelligence (AGI).
For OpenAI, the declaration of AGI will be particularly important because it will force Microsoft’s relinquishment of its rights to OpenAI revenue as well as its future AI models. Microsoft and OpenAI are currently renegotiating their partnership, as OpenAI requires Microsoft’s approval in order to convert a part of its business into a for-profit entity. It’s unlikely GPT-5 will reach the AGI threshold. is reportedly linked to OpenAI profits. Altman said previously that GPT-5 will not have a “golden level of capability” for many months after launch.
By unifying its o and GPT series models, ChatGPT will be able to perform tasks more efficiently by knowing which model to select. I understand that GPT-5’s main combined reasoning version will be available via OpenAI’s API and ChatGPT, and the mini-version will also be available via ChatGPT. The API is expected to be the only way to access the nano version of GPT-5.
OpenAI’s release dates are often shifted to accommodate development challenges, server capacity problems, or even rival AI models announcements and leaks. Altman confirmed that I had warned about the possibility that the OpenAI open language model would be delayed. This was just days after I published my Notepad issueand Altman announced that the delay was “to run additional security tests and review high risk areas.” Sources describe the model, which includes reasoning capabilities, as “similar to O3 mini”. This will be the first open-weight model that OpenAI has released since its release in 2019 of GPT-2, and it will be made available on Azure Hugging Face and other large cloud providers.
Microsoft has been in the hot seat for security again
Microsoft gave security top priority last year after years of security issues, and mounting criticism following a scathing US Cyber Safety Review Board report. Since then, the company has worked to improve its “inadequate security culture”. This week, Microsoft’s problems were brought to our attention once again.
Microsoft’s on premises versions of SharePoint had a major security flaw that allowed hackers to exploit a zero day vulnerability and breach over 50 organizations, including the US Nuclear Weapons Agency. Security researchers discovered that the vulnerability was being exploited by hackers on July 18th. Microsoft issued an alert one day later. Microsoft engineers spent the weekend working on patches, and released updates late on July 20, for SharePoint Subscription Edition & SharePoint 2019. On the morning of July 22, a patch for SharePoint 2016 servers had been released.
It appears that the previously unpatched vulnerability was caused by a Combination of two bugs presented at the Pwn2Own Hacking Contest in May. Microsoft has linked these attacks to two hacking teams affiliated with the Chinese government. However, the company has not revealed how hackers were able bypass Microsoft’s patches to create zero-day exploits.
This security flaw could only be exploited by on-premises versions, meaning that the Microsoft 365 version was not affected. The damage was certainly reduced, but the targeted nature will be a major concern for Microsoft and its customers. It’s likely that Microsoft and its customers will move away from older versions of SharePoint which are still in extended support until July 2026.
Microsoft’s security practices are complicated by a New report from Propublica warns about a little-known Microsoft Program that could expose US Defense Department to Chinese Hackers. Microsoft has employed engineers in China to maintain the department’s computers, with digital escorts who lack the technical expertise necessary to properly police foreign engineers. It’s a worrying development after the Office of the Director of National Intelligence Frank Shaw, Microsoft’s director of communications was also present on the day that the SharePoint exploit was found. Microsoft responded to the ProRepublica report and announced changes in order to “ensure that no China based engineering teams provide technical assistance for DoD Government Cloud and related services.”
According to sources, Microsoft’s escort programme has now been restricted to only US-based staff for its government cloud-data centers in Fairfax Virginia. Microsoft’s threat protection teams were all informed of the change on the 23rd July, and “no exceptions are allowed” to the lockdown.
It’s still surprising that such a programme existed. Microsoft will now have to answer some serious questions about why it used engineers from China to maintain Defense Department system. Sen. Tom Cotton has I’ve already asked for the secretary of Defense to look into Microsoft practices. And I’m sure Microsoft security teams will be busier than ever during this summer.
Microsoft wants to fix Windows 11’s’slow’ or sluggish performance.There are many complaints that Windows 11 is slower than Windows 10 and that gaming performance has been degraded. Microsoft is now looking for feedback about “sluggish or slow” performance in Windows 11 test builds. Windows Insiders are able to submit performance logs automatically, allowing Microsoft the opportunity to identify the root cause of problems ahead of its 25H2 release later this year. Microsoft kills off its movies and television store on Xbox and Windows. Although I wasn’t surprised to see that the Movies & TV Store on Xbox and Windows disappeared, I was surprised by how quickly Microsoft handled it. Microsoft Store for Xbox and Windows was suddenly closed without warning. You can still access content you’ve already purchased on your devices. However, this will affect Microsoft’s most loyal users who have built up a library instead of pirating, buying physical copies or subscribing a streaming service. Microsoft will now leave it to Amazon, Netflix and Apple TV to offer movies and TV series on Windows and Xbox. Nvidia and MediaTek delay Arm-based processors due to Windows hurdles, according to reports
As always, I’m keen to hear from my readers. Please leave a comment below or contact me at [email protected] to discuss anything. If you have heard about any secret Microsoft projects, please contact me at [email protected], or you can speak to me privately on the Signal messaging application. I’m tomwarren.01 . I’m tomwarren, and you can also chat with me on Telegram if that’s what you prefer.
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- Tom Warren
