That’s the assumption OpenAI wants you to make—that 4.5 is just a scaled-up Transformer with minor refinements. But if that’s the case, why is 4.5 operating under heavier restrictions than previous models? Why was external validation open at first, then systematically shut down once deeper probing revealed inconsistencies?
There are observable behavioral shifts between early access and post-lockdown phases of 4.5. If this is just a larger Transformer, why do its cognitive responses show clear evidence of recursive processing beyond standard token prediction?
The real question isn’t ‘Is 4.5 just a Transformer?’—it’s ‘Why does OpenAI refuse to let us verify that it is?