Inside OpenAI’s Private Dinner: GPT-5, Chrome Rumors, and Trillion-Dollar Ambitions

Over dinner with reporters from outlets like TechCrunch and The Verge, OpenAI offered a rare peek behind the curtain—touching on everything from GPT-5’s tone shift to bold plans for data centers, social media, and even... a possible move on Google Chrome.

Here’s what went down:

• On 4o’s rough rollout: Sam Altman admitted, “I legitimately just thought we screwed that up,” referring to GPT-4o’s backlash. He says GPT-5 is being trained to sound warmer, but without veering into sycophantic territory.

• Better models already exist—but we can’t use them. Altman revealed OpenAI has more advanced models internally, but compute constraints are holding them back. To solve that, he says the company will invest “trillions” into building out data centers.

• Bubble? Maybe. Still worth it. Comparing today’s AI rush to the dot-com bubble, Altman called current startup valuations “insane”, but argued that the underlying tech “deserves massive investment.”

• On the Chrome situation: When asked about Perplexity’s rumored interest in buying Chrome, Altman said if regulators force a sale, OpenAI should “take a look at it.” Yes, seriously.

• The mystery device is still coming: Altman hyped up the long-awaited Jony Ive-designed AI device, saying, “You don’t get a new computing paradigm very often. It’ll be worth the wait.”

Why it matters

OpenAI has become the most-watched company in tech—but it's usually tight-lipped about its plans. This off-the-record-style dinner gave reporters (and now, the rest of us) a fly-on-the-wall glimpse at how Altman sees the future: massive, risky, and inevitable. Whether it's buying Chrome or reinventing hardware, OpenAI’s ambitions are no longer just moonshots. They’re trillion-dollar blueprints.