In a world where artificial general intelligence (AGI) often steals the spotlight, OpenAI’s CEO Sam Altman has taken a moment to celebrate a seemingly minor yet significant achievement. The company’s language model, ChatGPT, has finally mastered the art of using em dashes correctly—a small but crucial step in the journey towards creating AI that can generate human-like text.
The Em Dash in Typography Basics
The em dash is a versatile punctuation mark, often used in professional writing to denote interruptions, emphasize points, or enclose parenthetical phrases. Despite its ubiquity, it has been a notorious stumbling block for AI-generated text. Inconsistent em dash usage has been a common critique, with AI models often struggling to adhere to the established style guides that govern its use.
The challenge lies in the granular nature of these formatting conventions. Training large language models to follow such rules without overgeneralizing is no small feat. It requires a delicate balance of precision and flexibility, a task that has proven difficult for AI developers.
Sam Altman’s Public Reaction
On November 14, 2025, Sam Altman expressed his delight over ChatGPT’s improved handling of em dash formatting rules. His comment, shared on a public platform, quickly spread among tech enthusiasts, sparking conversations about the progress of AI usability.
Altman’s “Forget AGI” remark, delivered with a humorous tone, underscored the importance of incremental progress over grandiose goals. It served as a reminder that while AGI is a significant milestone, the journey towards it is filled with many smaller, yet equally important, achievements.
Evolution of ChatGPT’s Formatting Capabilities
Prior versions of ChatGPT struggled with precise punctuation like em dashes, leading to user frustrations in document generation. However, an update announced around November 14, 2025, integrated better support for em dash formatting rules through enhanced training data.
This update has resulted in a tangible improvement in text coherence. Examples of before-and-after outputs illustrate how the correct use of em dashes can significantly enhance the readability and professionalism of AI-generated text.
Broader Implications for AI Development Priorities
Altman’s focus on em dash rules reflects OpenAI’s shift towards practical, user-facing enhancements rather than solely pursuing AGI. This milestone has been met with positive responses from the community, including writers and editors who praised the change for streamlining content creation workflows.
The ripple effects of this achievement could extend to competing AI tools, prompting them to adopt similar formatting standards. It underscores the importance of attention to detail in AI development and the value of incremental improvements in enhancing user experience.
Challenges Remaining in AI Text Generation
Despite this achievement, challenges remain in AI text generation. ChatGPT still struggles with the handling of other punctuation like en dashes or hyphens. The limitations of current models in contextually applying em dash formatting rules across diverse languages or styles also pose a challenge.
Future updates will need to address these issues to fully align AI outputs with professional publishing norms. This will require continuous refinement and improvement, underscoring the iterative nature of AI development.
OpenAI’s Communication Strategy
Altman’s lighthearted announcement on November 14, 2025, serves to humanize OpenAI’s image amid high-stakes AI debates. It highlights the role of celebrations in engaging non-technical audiences with ChatGPT’s everyday utility.
By downplaying AGI hype to emphasize achievable wins like improved em dash support, OpenAI strategically shifts the focus towards the practical applications of AI. This approach not only fosters a better understanding of AI’s capabilities but also builds trust and engagement among users.
More from MorningOverview