Why “new and improved” isn’t always better: What changes when your alts AI model updates?

Alts data solutions built on generic AI models may provide quick productivity gains, but it all goes down the drain if a shift to the underlying model upends your workflows or leads to data loss or inaccuracies.  

OpenAI users experienced this firsthand in February of 2025, when backend updates to ChatGPT erased long-term data, leaving a trail of lost work in its wake.¹ While user productivity suffered, the headline-making backlash came later that year, when, in August, ChatGPT5 rolled out a wide-scale modernization. Nearly instantly, users took to social media, complaining that ChatGPT was now “dumber” and lacked familiarity.² 

“I’ve been trying GPT5 for a few days now. Even after customizing instructions, it still doesn’t feel the same. It’s more technical, more generalized, and honestly feels emotionally distant,” wrote one member of a Reddit community dedicated to ChatGPT.³ 

To understand how critical these disruptions can be, consider this fact. A survey conducted this year indicates that AI chatbots supported by large language models, such as ChatGPT, Claude, or Gemini, may be the largest online providers of mental health services. Nearly half of the respondents were using AI for therapeutic support.⁴ 

So, what happens when your “therapist” suddenly forgets your history, develops bias, or misinterprets emotional nuance? More than likely, users will lose trust in the AI and turn to alternative therapeutic providers.

A similar vulnerability exists when third-party AI models sit at the core of alternatives data automation. Changes to the underlying AI model may introduce similar operational risks, leading to inaccurate reporting and valuations, missed deadlines, and undermining investor confidence.

Why you need a proprietary AI model for alts data.

Generic third-party AI models, such as ChatGPT or Microsoft CoPilot, are trained on vast, diverse datasets and are not optimized for alternatives data. This means the AI model acts more like a general-purpose engine. It relies heavily on the application layer—the data solution built at the top of the stack—to do the heavy lifting, using specialized prompts, logic, and rules to guide the model to the correct details.

But what happens when the underlying model changes? Since external developers control those model updates, your alts data solution provider has a limited ability to manage risks, such as:

• Performance regression: Recent research indicates that 32.7% of AI model evolutions result in measurable performance impacts, with negative effects felt 1.3 times more often than improvements.⁵ 
• Model drift: Models built on generic platforms may suffer when trained on new data, since updates are made to support general interactions, not alts-specific applications. Users may notice that models are no longer mapped correctly to the respective documents and extract incorrect data, for example.
• Workflow Disruptions: Changes to a model’s architecture or processing logic can break existing integrations, causing fallout in downstream systems and disrupting workflows. For anyone working with alts data, the impact is extensive, necessitating emergency manual workarounds that increase the risk of missed reporting deadlines.

Canoe Intelligence is built on proprietary AI models, so we avoid these risks. Trained on 44,000 funds, Canoe AI is the engine that drives our core functions, including  data extraction, normalization, and classification. Since we train Canoe AI on real alternative investment documentsets, like capital calls, LP statements, and quarterly reports, the critical structure and terminology are preserved. That means we can deliver consistent, accurate outcomes update after update.

While alts data solutions built on third-party models remain at the mercy of model developers, Canoe owns and governs the entire AI stack. This allows us to test for behavioral changes when making upgrades and ensure compatibility with downstream processes before rolling out updates. We protect your workflow integrity while adapting to market changes in GP reporting formats, regulatory disclosures, and fund structures, to name a few. 

In private markets, where a single misvaluation can drive flawed investment decisions and reputational damage, precision is paramount. Canoe’s proprietary approach ensures consistency and accuracy from one upgrade to the next. No matter your role in the alts environment, Canoe keeps you on the cusp of innovation without disruption, ensuring your workflows remain reliable even as capabilities advance.

¹ OpenAI Community. “Catastrophic Failures of ChatGPT That’s Creating Major Problems for Users.” Posted March 29, 2025. https://community.openai.com/t/catastrophic-failures-of-chatgpt-thats-creating-major-problems-for-users/1156230

² Will Knight. “OpenAI Scrambles to Update GPT-5 After Users Revolt.” Wired, Aug. 11, 2025. Web.

³ Will Knight. “OpenAI Scrambles to Update GPT-5 After Users Revolt.” Wired, Aug. 11, 2025. Web.

⁴ Tony Rousmanier. “Survey: ChatGPT may be the largest provider of mental health support in the United States.” Sentio University, March 18, 2025. Web.

⁵ Kaveh Shahedi, et al. “An Empirical Study on Method-Level Performance Evolution in Open-Source Java Projects.” arXiv, Aug. 9, 2025. Web.

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About Canoe Intelligence
Canoe Intelligence (“Canoe”) is the platform for smarter alts management. We redefine alternative investment intelligence with AI-driven software that directly addresses the core challenges of private markets. Our technology empowers institutions, LPs, and wealth managers to future-proof their alts infrastructure, modernizing systems and providing a scalable foundation for long-term growth and compliance. By automating manual data processing with AI-native precision, Canoe helps clients reduce operational costs and risks, significantly lowering overhead and mitigating errors. Ultimately, our timely, accurate, and comprehensive data enables investment teams to drive superior investment outcomes through deeper insights and more profitable allocation strategies. With Canoe, it’s all about making Alts, smarter. Learn more at www.canoeintelligence.com.

MEDIA CONTACT:
Betsy Miller Daitch
Canoe Intelligence
+1 443-690-6200
bdaitch@canoeintelligence.com