I didn't think it was a choreographed publicity stunt. I just know Altman has used AI fear in the past to keep people from asking rational questions like "What can this actually do?" He obviously stands to gain from people thinking they are on the verge of agi. And someone looking for a new job in the field also has to gain from it.

As for the software thing, if it's done by someone it won't be openai and megacorporations following in its footsteps. They seem insistent at throwing more data (of diminishing quality) and more compute (an impractical amount) at the same style of models hoping they'll reach some kind of tipping point.