OpenAI researchers warned of AI breakthrough that could ‘threaten humanity’ ahead of CEO Sam Altman’s ouster

According to one of the sources, long-time executive Mira Murati mentioned the project, called Q*, to employees on Wednesday and said that a letter was sent to the board prior to this weekend’s events.

After the story was published, an OpenAI spokesperson said Murati told employees what the media reports were about but she did not comment on the accuracy of the information.

The maker of ChatGPT had made progress on Q* (pronounced Q-Star), which some internally believe could be a breakthrough in the startup’s search for superintelligence, also known as artificial general intelligence (AGI), one of the people told Reuters. OpenAI defines AGI as AI systems that are smarter than humans.