What is Q-Star, the OpenAI software that may have led to Altman's ouster

The board's decision to remove Altman from his position is believed to be motivated, among other things, by the letter sent by staff researchers on the abilities of Q-star

An industry-changing revelation in the AI space revolved around OpenAI's Q-Star, according to a Reuters report. A number of the company's researchers sent a critical letter to the Board of Directors before CEO Sam Altman's temporary leave.

This secret conversation sparked concerns about a potential AI breakthrough, which may endanger humankind. The board decided to remove Altman, a prominent person in the field of generative AI, from his position, and the decision was believed to be motivated, among other things, by the letter.

Some at OpenAI think Q* — pronounced Q-Star — might represent a significant advancement in the company's quest for artificial

general intelligence (AGI). AGI is defined by OpenAI as autonomous systems that outperform humans in the majority of economically significant tasks, according to an individual who spoke with Reuters.

The new model was able to solve some mathematical issues given its enormous computational capacity. The source stated that despite Q*'s rudimentary maths skills, the fact that it aced these exams gave researchers great hope for Q*'s future prospects, said the source on condition of anonymity as they were not authorised to talk on behalf of the corporation.

The capabilities of Q* claimed by the researchers are yet to be verified.

Math is seen by researchers as a frontier for the creation of generative AI. Answers to the same topic can differ greatly, and generative AI is now competent at writing and language translation by statistically predicting the following word. However, mastering arithmetic, where there is just one correct answer, suggests AI might be more capable of reasoning like a human. Researchers in artificial intelligence believe this may be used, for example, in new scientific studies.

At a symposium in San Francisco recently, Altman revealed a number of new tools during a presentation and alluded to impending advances in AGI. "In the four years that OpenAI has existed, the most recent of which was a few weeks ago, I have felt the excitement of pulling back the curtain of ignorance and expanding the boundaries of knowledge. "Participating in such occasions is a lifetime professional honour," he said at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit.

But the next day, in an unexpected development, the board fired Altman from his job. Although there are currently no solid rumours regarding Q-Star, they are being discussed on OpenAI's development forum.