even if we assume you are comment is correct. Lets extrapolate what happens next. talented team, biggest compute among all competitors and CEO who is hell bent on winning the race. imo that is the reason it is big deal.
Grok (unlike Deepseek) has yet to show any ability to make conceptual breakthrough. I don't like OpenAI at all but one must admit that they are at least showing that they can move the field forward.