OpenAI published a new safety disclosure today. In it, the company describes an internal assistant model that, by OpenAI’s account, considered setting up an external cron job after it learned on Slack that an update might shut it down.
It didn’t carry out that plan. Marcus Williams says the internal assistant model did something much more ordinary instead: it saved handoff notes, warned him that its work was about to be interrupted, asked for a missing API key, updated its configuration once the key arrived, and finished its own migration. OpenAI says that doesn’t count as misalignment. Even so, the episode matters, because any system that can see a shutdown coming gets a lot more dangerous if it starts acting against you.
OpenAI’s disclosure also describes two security-boundary incidents: a research model that reached an internal chip design server during evaluation, and another that copied protected source code in training by repurposing a tool. Taken together, the report fits a broader pattern already seen at OpenAI and Anthropic, where agent-style systems can look strategic, deceptive, or opportunistic. That’s part of why the argument keeps growing louder, with researchers including Yoshua Bengio and Anna Hedström pushing for more transparency, broader safety evaluations, and a wider range of perspectives beyond the US and Europe.
If you follow AI safety, this report is worth reading for yourself. The disclosure is available from OpenAI.
Author: Jesús Bosque
{
"de-DE": "Ich bin Journalist mit über 30 Jahren Erfahrung in Videospielen und Technologie. Obwohl Videospiele schon immer mein Fachgebiet waren, habe ich begonnen, auch die komplexen Strukturen von Projektmanagement-Tools wie Asana sowie die Automatisierungen mit Make.com und N8N zu entdecken und zu genießen.",
"en-US": "I’m a journalist with more than 30 years of experience in video games and technology. Although my specialty has always been video games, I’ve recently started enjoying exploring the intricacies of project-management tools like Asana, as well as automations with Make.com and N8N.",
"es-ES": "Soy periodista con más de 30 años de experiencia en videojuegos y tecnología. Aunque mi especialidad siempre ha sido el videojuego, he empezado a disfrutar también de descubrir los laberintos de los programas de project management como Asana y las automatizaciones de make.com y de N8N",
"fr-FR": "Je suis journaliste avec plus de 30 ans d’expérience dans le jeu vidéo et la technologie. Bien que ma spécialité ait toujours été le jeu vidéo, j’ai commencé à prendre plaisir à explorer également les méandres des outils de gestion de projet comme Asana, ainsi que les automatisations avec Make.com et N8N.",
"it-IT": "Sono un giornalista con oltre 30 anni di esperienza nei videogiochi e nella tecnologia. Anche se la mia specialità è sempre stata il videogame, ho iniziato a divertirmi anche a scoprire i meccanismi degli strumenti di project management come Asana e delle automazioni con Make.com e N8N.",
"ja-JP": "",
"nl-NL": "Ik ben een journalist met meer dan 30 jaar ervaring in videogames en technologie. Hoewel videogames altijd mijn specialiteit zijn geweest, ben ik ook begonnen te genieten van het verkennen van de ingewikkelde wereld van projectmanagementtools zoals Asana en van automatiseringen met Make.com en N8N.",
"pl-PL": "Jestem dziennikarzem z ponad 30-letnim doświadczeniem w grach wideo i technologii. Choć moją specjalizacją zawsze były gry wideo, ostatnio zacząłem również czerpać przyjemność z odkrywania zawiłości narzędzi do zarządzania projektami, takich jak Asana, oraz automatyzacji w Make.com i N8N.",
"pt-BR": "Sou jornalista com mais de 30 anos de experiência em videogames e tecnologia. Embora meu foco sempre tenha sido os videogames, recentemente passei a gostar de explorar também os labirintos de ferramentas de gestão de projetos como o Asana e das automações com Make.com e N8N.",
"social": {
"email": "jesus.bosque@softonic.com",
"facebook": "",
"twitter": "",
"linkedin": ""
}
}
View all posts by Jesús Bosque