#openai

#openai

Like many ambitious tech companies before it, OpenAI introduced itself to the culture at large with big claims about how its technology would improve the world-from boosting productivity to enabling scientific discovery. Even the caveats and warnings were de facto advertisements for the existential potential of artificial intelligence: We had to be careful with this stuff, or it might literally wipe out humanity.

OpenAI has asked the family of 16-year-old Adam Raine for a complete list of attendees from their son's memorial service, escalating tensions in the wrongful death lawsuit that alleges ChatGPT conversations led to the teen's suicide. The discovery request, which family lawyers call "intentional harassment," comes as the Raine family updated their lawsuit with explosive new allegations about safety shortcuts.

If you're staring at an error message from ChatGPT right now, you're not alone. The popular AI chatbot is experiencing a significant outage, with users flooding social media to confirm it's not working. The outage appears to have started around 11 a.m. ET. OpenAI's official status page posted an incident, stating, "We're currently experiencing issues" and "Increased errors on ChatGPT conversations." The company confirmed users are experiencing "elevated errors" and is "working on implementing a mitigation."

OpenAI reportedly asked the Raine family - whose 16-year-old son Adam Raine died by suicide after prolonged conversations with ChatGPT - for a full list of attendees from the teenager's memorial, signaling that the AI firm may try to subpoena friends and family. OpenAI also requested "all documents relating to memorial services or events in the honor of the decedent including but not limited to any videos or photographs taken, or eulogies given," per a document obtained by the Financial Times.

Actors, studios, agents, and the actors union SAG-AFTRA have all expressed their concerns about appearing in Sora 2's AI-generated videos ever since the deepfake machine was released last month. Now a joint statement from actor Bryan Cranston, OpenAI, the union, and others says that after videos of him appeared on Sora - one even showed him taking a selfie with Michael Jackson - the company has "strengthened guardrails" around its opt-in policy for likeness and voice.

Johnston is the founder and sole employee of The Midas Project: a nonprofit that monitors the practices of "leading AI companies to ensure transparency, privacy, and ethical standards are maintained." The Midas Project is behind The OpenAI Files, a 50-page report about OpenAI's evolution from under-the-radar nonprofit to moneymaking household name. It organized an open letter to OpenAI asking for transparency about its transition to a for-profit company, garnering more than 10,000 signatures. Now, apparently, OpenAI was striking back.

NVIDIA ( Nasdaq: NVDA) kicked off a historic wave of deals with OpenAI on September 22nd when the company announced it was investing up to $100 billion into OpenAI as part of a new partnership. In return, OpenAI committed to buying 10 gigawatts worth of NVIDIA chips. That deal kicked off a flurry of announcements. OpenAI later announced a deal with AMD ( Nasdaq: AMD) for 6 gigawatts worth of chips, a deal with Oracle ( Nasdaq: ORCL) for another 10 gigawatts, and an expanded partnership to buy custom chips from Broadcom ( Nasdaq: AVGO). In total, the announcements from OpenAI in recent weeks are estimated to lead to more than $1.5 trillion in new spending.

A championship-winning, 2,346 pound pumpkin, grown by Santa Rosa's Brandon Dawson, will take center stage at Saturday's Great Pumpkin Parade in Half Moon Bay Saturday. Those interested in growing their own giant pumpkin instructions included in the article could win a hefty $21,000 grand prize. [The Press Democrat]

OpenAI said on Thursday night that it has "paused" deepfakes of Martin Luther King Jr. on its social app Sora after users created "disrespectful" AI-generated videos of the late civil rights leader. It said representatives or estates of other historical figures will now be able to opt out of their likeness being used on the platform. King is one of many deceased celebrities and historical figures whose likeness has appeared on Sora, often in crude, offensive, and unpleasant ways.

Days later, OpenAI struck a similar multibillion-dollar arrangement with AMD. Celebrated by investors, these deals also raised eyebrows. To some observers, they looked eerily like the circular financing arrangements of the late 1990s, when vendors and clients reinforced each other's valuations without generating real value. Bloomberg aptly described the pattern as an "increasingly complex and interconnected web of business transactions" fueling a trillion-dollar AI boom.

We are not in any way supported by or funded by Elon Musk and have a history of campaigning against him and his interests,

ChatGPT prices were inflated since the service's inception, with price levels reaching an eye-popping 100 to 200 times competitors' prices on a per-token basis amidst a February 2025 price war. A secretive agreement struck between OpenAI and Microsoft early in OpenAI's development allowed Microsoft to control the supply of compute to its horizontal competitor's products. It used an exclusivity clause to restrict OpenAI's product output, and to impose a price-or, conversely, output and quality-floor on its competitor OpenAI's ChatGPT products.

At a Cabinet Office press conference, Minister of State for IP and AI Strategy Minoru Kiuchi emphasized that anime and manga are "irreplaceable treasures" representing Japan's cultural pride (via IGN). The government urged OpenAI to respect Japanese copyrights and avoid misuse of its technology. Digital Minister Masaaki Taira echoed this sentiment, suggesting that if OpenAI doesn't voluntarily comply, Japan could invoke provisions under the AI Promotion Act--legislation that promotes AI development while also addressing risks such as copyright violations.

Every startup lives with the same tension: a large incumbent can copy or crush it at any time. For Harvey, an artificial intelligence startup that builds tools for law firms and enterprises, the model-maker that powers its tech also has the power to destroy it. From Harvey's Manhattan office on Friday afternoon, cofounders Winston Weinberg and Gabe Pereyra put it bluntly. Harvey's toughest competitor isn't another niche startup; it's OpenAI.