I Cracked Open Karpathy's $100 ChatGPT — the 2019 Original Cost $43,000 and 168 Hours

The U.S. government blocked OpenAI from shipping its most advanced AI model, GPT-5.6 Sol, which launched on June 26 to a limited audience. The original 2019 version cost $43,000 and required 168 hours to run, while a cheaper 2025 version now costs $100.

On Friday, the U.S. government told OpenAI it could not ship its smartest model to you. GPT-5.6 Sol launched June 26 to roughly twenty… Continue reading on Towards AI »