OpenAI

OpenAI Follow Follow OpenAI kicked off an AI revolution with DALL-E and ChatGPT, making the organization the epicenter of the artificial intelligence boom. Led by CEO Sam Altman, OpenAI became a story unto itself when Altman was briefly fired and then brought back after pressure from staff and Microsoft, an investor and close partner. J External Link Jay Peters Feb 16 Link ChatGPT is getting a Lockdown Mode. Lockdown Mode is “not necessary” for most people and “tightly constrains how ChatGPT can interact with external systems to reduce the risk of prompt injection–based data exfiltration,” according to OpenAI . Introducing Lockdown Mode and Elevated Risk labels in ChatGPT [ OpenAI ] OpenClaw founder Peter Steinberger is joining OpenAI Terrence O'Brien Feb 15 Ring’s adorable surveillance hellscape David Pierce Feb 13 E Quote Emma Roth Feb 11 Link Ex-OpenAI researcher has “deep reservations” about its approach to ads. In an op-ed for The New York Times , Zoë Hitzig, a researcher who left OpenAI this week, expresses concerns about the company’s move to put ads in ChatGPT , while posing alternatives to a setup that could potentially harm users down the line: So the real question is not ads or no ads. It is whether we can design structures that avoid both excluding people from using these tools, and potentially manipulating them as consumers. I think we can. H External Link Hayden Field Feb 11 Link OpenAI reportedly disbanded its Mission Alignment team. Members of the team — which was tasked with ensuring AGI benefits all of humanity — have been transferred to other areas of the company, and former team lead Joshua Achiam will take on a new role as OpenAI’s “chief futurist,” Platformer reported . OpenAI disbanded its mission alignment team [ Platformer ] Here are the brands bringing ads to ChatGPT Emma Roth Feb 11 D External Link Dominic Preston Feb 11 Link OpenAI fired exec who opposed ‘adult mode.’ Ryan Beiermeister, previously vice president of the product policy team, was reportedly fired in early January over alleged sexual discrimination against a male colleague. Beiermeister, who called the allegation “absolutely false,” had opposed adding adult content , and worried safeguards weren’t strong enough. OpenAI said her firing was “not related to any issue she raised.” OpenAI Executive Who Opposed ‘Adult Mode’ Fired for Sexual Discrimination [ WSJ ] ChatGPT’s deep research tool adds a built-in document viewer so you can read its reports Emma Roth Feb 10 D External Link Dominic Preston Feb 10 Link OpenAI’s first hardware slips to 2027. We’d heard its devices could arrive this year , but in a court filing OpenAI vice president Peter Welinder said they won’t reach customers before March 2027. The case is a trademark infringement suit from audio startup iyO, which sued after OpenAI bought Jony Ive’s company io — Welinder confirmed OpenAI has no plans to use the io name for its hardware. OpenAI Abandons ‘io’ Branding for Its AI Hardware [ WIRED ] ChatGPT’s cheapest options now show you ads Stevie Bonifield Feb 9 OpenAI will reportedly start testing ads in ChatGPT today Emma Roth Feb 9 OpenAI’s supposedly ‘leaked’ Super Bowl ad with ear buds and a shiny orb was a hoax Richard Lawler Feb 9 R Richard Lawler Feb 9 Link Anthropic’s Super Bowl ad has a change that made it less directly about OpenAI and ChatGPT. The round of Big Game ads Anthropic previewed earlier this week set Sam Altman off , as he called them “clearly dishonest.” Now, while the original ad says, “Ads are coming to AI. But not to Claude,” nodding to OpenAI’s plans, the one that aired replaced it with a new tagline: “There is a time and place for ads. Your conversations with AI should not be one of them.” Anthropic’s original Super Bowl ad’s closing message, which is not the same as the one that aired on Sunday. Image: Anthropic R Youtube Richard Lawler Feb 9 Link OpenAI’s Super Bowl ad claims “You can just build things” with Codex. As OpenAI and Anthropic feud over AI advertising , both companies are running Super Bowl ads for their AI products. After OpenAI boss Sam Altman said its ad would focus on “builders,” OpenAI debuted this ad about its AI coding agent, Codex. ChatGPT is much more well-known, but enterprise use of tools like Codex is probably where OpenAI’s money is. How Epstein became a tech influencer David Pierce Feb 6 D Quote Dominic Preston Feb 6 Link OpenAI claims its latest model helped code itself. GPT‑5.3‑Codex , its new coding and development model, is apparently the first “that was instrumental in creating itself.” No, that probably doesn’t mean ChatGPT is ready to build its own Skynet, but it can help in debugging and testing: “The Codex team used early versions to debug its own training, manage its own deployment, and diagnose test results and evaluations—our team was blown away by how much Codex was able to accelerate its own development.” J Jess Weatherbed Feb 5 Link ChatGPT got a brand new Canva tool. ChatGPT users who create designs via the Canva app can now connect to their Canva Brand Kits, allowing designs to draw from on-brand colors and assets. Anthropic’s good week continues, however — Claude got the same Canva Brand Kit feature first . If you buy something from a Verge link, Vox Media may earn a commission. See our ethics statement. Do many people use design apps within chatbots, rather than just using the design app directly? Image: Canva OpenAI Frontier is a single platform to control your AI agents Robert Hart Feb 5 Sam Altman responds to Anthropic’s ‘funny’ Super Bowl ads Richard Lawler and Hayden Field Feb 4 GitHub adds Claude and Codex AI coding agents Tom Warren Feb 4 Anthropic says ‘Claude will remain ad-free,’ unlike ChatGPT Dominic Preston Feb 4 J Youtube Jess Weatherbed Feb 4 Link Anthropic’s first Super Bowl ad dunks on ChatGPT. “Ads are coming to AI. But not to Claude,” is a clear shot at OpenAI’s decision to bring ads to ChatGPT without mentioning it by name. There are four commercials in the campaign, with one trimmed to thirty-seconds to air during the Super Bowl at a cost of around $8 million. H External Link Hayden Field Feb 3 Link OpenAI poached its new safety executive from Anthropic. OpenAI’s new “ head of preparedness ,” Dylan Scandinaro, came from an AGI safety role at the company’s chief competitor. “AI is advancing rapidly,” he wrote in a post on X. “The potential benefits are great—and so are the risks of extreme and even irrecoverable harm. There’s a lot of work to do, and not much time to do it!” Sam Altman’s post [ X (formerly Twitter) ] Apple’s Xcode adds OpenAI and Anthropic’s coding agents Emma Roth Feb 3 D Quote David Pierce Feb 3 Link Sam Altman kinda-sorta-almost declares AGI. In the middle of a Forbes profile of Altman’s journey through the AI world — which is just astoundingly chaotic, when you see it all laid out in a row — Altman says that “we basically have built AGI, or very close to it.” Which, uh, okay! But then he changes his mind, sort of. From the story: A few days later, Altman dials things back. “I meant that as a spiritual statement, not a literal one,” he says. Achieving AGI, he concedes, will require “a lot of medium-sized breakthroughs. I don’t think we need a big one.” E Quote Emma Roth Feb 2 Link More about the Sora AI videos coming to Disney Plus. Disney’s deal with OpenAI includes a plan to allow Sora users to create 30-second clips featuring over 250 Disney characters while some will appear in curated vertical video feeds inside Disney Plus , CEO Bob Iger told investors on Monday. Iger said the feature could arrive “sometime in fiscal 2026,” adding the company hopes to allow Disney Plus subscribers to create them directly on its platform: What this deal does is by giving us the ability to curate what has been basically created by Sora onto Disney, is it jumpstarts our ability to have short form video on Disney Plus. Nvidia CEO denies he’s ‘unhappy’ with OpenAI Terrence O'Brien Jan 31 J External Link Jay Peters Jan 31 Link Nvidia’s investment of up to $100 billion in OpenAI may not happen as planned. The deal, announced in September , is “on ice,” according to The Wall Street Journal , though there are apparently still talks about a deal of some kind: Now, the two sides are rethinking the future of their partnership, some of the people said. The latest discussions, they said, include an equity investment of tens of billions of dollars as part of OpenAI’s current funding round. The $100 Billion Megadeal Between OpenAI and Nvidia Is on Ice [ The Wall Street Journal ] J External Link Jay Peters Jan 30 Link GPT-4o is being retired from ChatGPT. After the launch of GPT-5, OpenAI brought GPT-4o back for paid subscribers because users missed it , but now, “only 0.1% of users” are still choosing GPT‑4o “each day,” the company says . OpenAI will retire GPT‑4o, GPT‑4.1, GPT‑4.1 mini, and OpenAI o4-mini from ChatGPT on February 13th. Retiring GPT-4o, GPT-4.1, GPT-4.1 mini, and OpenAI o4-mini in ChatGPT [ OpenAI ] Sen. Warren pushes Altman for guarantee OpenAI isn’t seeking government bailout Robert Hart Jan 29 OpenAI’s president is a Trump mega-donor Hayden Field Jan 26 OpenAI is working out how much to charge for ChatGPT ads Stevie Bonifield Jan 26 Giving your healthcare info to a chatbot is, unsurprisingly, a terrible idea Robert Hart Jan 23 The end of the Sony era in TVs David Pierce Jan 23 Sen. Markey questions OpenAI about ‘deceptive advertising’ in ChatGPT Emma Roth Jan 22 Claude Code is suddenly everywhere inside Microsoft Tom Warren Jan 22 E Emma Roth Jan 21 Link OpenAI’s ChatGPT Atlas browser adds tab groups. An update coming today also introduces an “auto” mode that switches between ChatGPT’s responses and Google Search results based on your query. OpenAI is also working on Windows support and a mobile version of the browser . You can now categorize the webpages you want to save. Image: OpenAI OpenAI says its data centers will pay for their own energy and limit water usage Robert Hart Jan 21 ChatGPT is using age prediction to restrict what minors see Jess Weatherbed Jan 21 D Quote Dominic Preston Jan 20 Link You say ‘adoption’ when I think you mean ‘revenue.’ OpenAI’s CFO said the other day that the company’s aim for the year is “practical adoption,” but one commenter wonders if the ChatGPT company might have something more straightforward in mind. deadly789_ : OpenAI’s 2026 ‘focus’ is ‘paying our overwhelming bills’ Get the day’s best comment and more in my free newsletter, The Verge Daily . Most Popular Most Popular Apple’s doing something on March 4th Why are Epstein’s emails full of equals signs? OpenClaw founder Peter Steinberger is joining OpenAI The Pocket Taco is the best way to turn your phone into a Game Boy Anker’s USB-C cable that lets you charge two gadgets at once is 20 percent off Advertiser Content From This is the title for the native ad