STORY: OpenAI is working on a new approach to its AI models in a project code-named "Strawberry".

Reuters exclusively revealed the news Monday, citing a source close to the matter.

The project comes as the startup races to show the models it offers can deliver advanced reasoning capabilities.

The source described the plan to Reuters as a work in progress.

They added how Strawberry works is a tightly kept secret even within OpenAI.

The source said an internal company document suggests Strawberry aims to enable the firm's AI to not just generate answers to queries but to plan ahead enough to navigate the internet autonomously and reliably.

That would allow it to perform what OpenAI terms "deep research."

Experts have said this is something AI models haven't yet achieved.

Researchers Reuters interviewed say reasoning is key to AI achieving human or super-human-level intelligence.

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said earlier this year that in AI "the most important areas of progress will be around reasoning ability."

Improving reasoning in AI models is seen as the key to unlocking the ability for the models to do everything...

From making major scientific discoveries to planning and building new software applications.

In response to questions from Reuters, an Open AI spokesperson said, "Continuous research into new AI capabilities is a common practice in the industry, with a shared belief that these systems will improve in reasoning over time.

The spokesperson did not directly address questions about Strawberry.

Reuters could not establish how close Strawberry is to being publicly available.