GPT-5 sucks. I tested it Friday, bad. I tested it again today, even worse. Stick a fork in it.

Let me show you how flawed this model is.

When I tested it on Friday, OpenAI was having routing issues that may have caused GPT-5 to underperform. So this morning, I ran it through 3 more tests to see if GPT-5 can finally live up to the hype.

Here’s what I found…

Round #1: Teach Me About Medical Tourism

This afternoon, I’m meeting with an awesome startup that helps Americans arrange medical procedures overseas.

I love medical tourism! I got a full physical in Japan with a battery of tests for only $100!

So I asked GPT-5 to size up the market and its key players. I gave it a very detailed prompt. I asked for info on market size, leading companies, and more.

GPT-5 gave me a weird error, asking me to choose between a report with current data or one that stops in mid 2024. Uh, who’s choosing an outdated report?

So, I told it to give me current data. It threw the same error again. Again, I told it to find me current data.

A third error! I give up.

Any decent model can do this. I ran the exact same prompt through Gemini 2.5 Pro and got a beautiful report in minutes. But GPT-5 just flails helplessly.

I’m giving this round an F.

Round #2: Why Is Dollar General So Successful?

If there’s one store I love, it’s Dollar General.

It’s so cheap, with such great staff and selection, that I find myself there several times a week. And it’s not just for folks who are struggling: one of the richest guys I know is a dedicated DG man.

This afternoon, I’m meeting a founder who used to be a top exec at DG. So I wondered, why is this company so darned successful?

Let’s ask GPT-5…

GPT-5 gave an okay response, citing factors like a strong staff training program and small store sizes. But it didn’t cite a single source, nor did it explain why DG does better than other dollar stores.

This is a pretty basic, surface-level report. It feels like something GPT-3.5 could’ve written 2.5 years ago.

Compare that to Gemini 2.5 Pro. Gemini gave me a beautiful, carefully footnoted report in seconds.

Gemini explained that DG owns its own distribution centers, which gives it a huge advantage in logistics and cost. GPT-5 never mentioned that.

I’ll give GPT-5 a C for this round.

Round #3: My Unpaid Research Assistant

I’m starting to feel sorry for ChatGPT. So, I’ll give it an easy one…

I’m always looking up the funding history of startups. I want to meet companies before their seed round, so I need to make sure they’re early stage before I contact the founder.

This morning, I wanted to know the funding history of a startup called Rid. Rid helps you sell your unwanted junk online.

Can GPT-5 help?

GPT-5 gave a solid response, finding that Rid is part of the current YC cohort. That means they probably haven’t raised a seed round yet.

But when I ran the same question through Gemini 2.5 Pro, it gave me a better answer. Gemini explained that YC gives companies $500k and explained how that financing works. This is a fuller and more direct answer.

GPT-5 gave me what I needed, but it wasn’t as informative as I’d like. I’ll give this round a B.

A B isn’t bad. But for a supposedly frontier model, it’s not great.

Wrap-Up

Overall, I’m giving GPT-5 a grade of C- on this re-test.

That’s even lower than on Friday, when I gave it a B-. Maybe these updates are actually making it worse?

I want to get excited about GPT-5. But between weird errors, incomplete answers and generic reports, I walked away disappointed.

GPT-5 is the worst product launch I’ve seen in years. For a company valued at $500 billion that is supposedly the market leader, OpenAI did a rotten job here.

Sam is a smart guy and OpenAI has a lot of great people. They also have incredible distribution.

I’m confident they can come out with a great model. But this isn’t it.

More on tech:

GPT-5 vs. Grok 4: Which Model Is King?

Grok 4: The Best AI Model Ever?

Will Open Source Win AI?

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