Sam Altman says OpenAI will have AGI by the end of 2026 if you accept his definition

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman suggests that the company could achieve artificial general intelligence by the end of 2026, provided that AGI is defined by the capacity for independent scientific innovation. Chief scientist Jakub Pachocki noted that the upcoming Astra model already functions as an automated research assistant capable of generating new discoveries. This timeline reflects OpenAI’s internal confidence in moving beyond simple task automation toward models that can perform original research, signaling a potential shift in how artificial intelligence contributes to scientific progress.