Misato Kaetsu shows on a smartphone an online information board that she created following a major earthquake in Kumamoto Prefecture last month. KUMAMOTO - Generative artificial intelligence (AI) has been increasingly utilized to assist relief efforts in the wake of a powerful earthquake in Kumamoto Prefecture late last month. At the same time, AI is believed to have been used to create fake videos and other misinformation that were spread on social media, highlighting both the advantages and drawbacks of the technology. Misato Kaetsu, 38, who experienced the quake in the Kumamoto town of Mifune, created an online information board using generative AI on her smartphone while at the evacuation center where she and her family had fled. Those affected by the quake, which registered up to 7, the highest level on Japan's seismic intensity scale, can use the site to share local information, such as the locations of reopened stores and emergency feeding stations. The service was launched just hours after the idea was conceived.

'The reports have increased concerns about advancements in AI models and humans' ability to control them.' 'The reports have increased concerns about advancements in AI models and humans' ability to control them.' OpenAI will pause some work on an artificial intelligence model because of security concerns, the company stated Friday, following a series of incidents in which AI agents have escaped containment. The company had evaluated the agent, Astra, and found "significant advancements in agentic coding and cybersecurity", which had moved to a "critical" threshold where it can find and exploit vulnerabilities without human intervention, or devise and execute cyber-attacks when given only a "high level desired goal". OpenAI stated that the model was not involved in an incident in which one of its AI agents went rogue during a test, accessed the open web and hacked a startup, Hugging Face. The company discovered other instances in which autonomous agents had escaped containment, Reuters reported in July. The reports have increased concerns about advancements in AI models and humans' ability to control them. Still, critics of the AI industry have warned that such disclosures from OpenAI and its competitors Anthropic and Meta could be designed to generate hype about the technology's power and thus spur additional interest from investors.

When you purchase through links in our articles, we may earn a small commission. The unreleased Astra model may possess "critical" cybersecurity abilities, OpenAI warns. Less than a week after touting the scientific achievements of Astra, its next "major" model, OpenAI says it's "pausing internal activities" related to the model due to its powerful cybersecurity abilities. "Our latest internal evaluations of Astra, one of our upcoming models, over the past few days indicate significant advancements in agentic coding and cybersecurity," OpenAI stated in a Friday press release . "These results, in addition to expert assessments, have led us to conclude last night that we cannot rule out critical cyber capabilities under our Preparedness Framework ."

When you purchase through links in our articles, we may earn a small commission. OpenAI is finally killing ChatGPT's text chat limits for free users OpenAI has just announced that it's now removing text chat usage limits for ChatGPT Free and Go accounts. Previously, Free and Go users were rate-limited to 10-40 text messages per 3-5 hours on flagship models, with users kicked down to a lighter model after hitting limits. Along with this change, ChatGPT has now made GPT-5.6 Luna--the lightest model in its new GPT 5.6 family--the new default model for ChatGPT Free and Go users. It therefore replaces GPT-5.5 Instant, and it's the one that now supports unlimited free chat messages with text.

Follow this section to personalize your feed and get instant alerts. Follow Go to your personalized feed WHY FOLLOW? Smart Alerts: Get notified about major news as it happens. Follow this tag to personalize your feed and get instant alerts. Follow Go to your personalized feed WHY FOLLOW? Smart Alerts: Get notified about major news as it happens. Follow this author to personalize your feed and get instant alerts. Follow Go to your personalized feed WHY FOLLOW? Smart Alerts: Get notified about major news as it happens. Booth is a reporter at TIME.

The White House's plan to vet potentially dangerous AI is cloaked in secrecy After months of talking with tech industry leaders, the Trump administration finalized a framework this week for how it will test new artificial intelligence models for safety and cybersecurity risks. So far, the White House is keeping details of the framework private, in a blow to transparency and potential boon for secretive AI companies. On Tuesday, staff from OpenAI, Anthropic, Meta, Google, Nvidia and Microsoft attended a private meeting with White House officials to review the AI framework. Multiple outlets have since reported that although the volunteer vetting process for new AI models has been settled, the White House does not plan to release its policy publicly and will only share testing criteria with a select few tech companies. The Trump administration and tech industry's opaque process for how they will check if new AI models threaten global cybersecurity has left numerous questions about how the framework will operate.

Look Up Say More Versus Creator Hub Switch Off Mashable's Best: E-readers, robovacs, laptops, earbuds, smart home and more Trending Now Safety Net In My Bag VidCon with Mashable Back to School Furtastic All Series OpenAI's AI smart speaker will reportedly be shaped'like a doughnut' The portable device will use a camera system and microphones to learn about its user. Amanda Yeo is an Assistant Editor at Mashable, covering entertainment, culture, tech, science, and social good. Based in Australia, she writes about everything from video games and K-pop to movies and gadgets. OpenAI's screenless smart speaker will reportedly be shaped like a doughnut and carry a price tag in the ballpark of $300. Bloomberg revealed new details about OpenAI's upcoming hardware device on Tuesday, citing sources familiar with the matter.

OpenAI's new device will be hockey puck-size and cost over $300 OpenAI is looking to break new ground with its upcoming device, which is slated for release in 2027. A highly anticipated new device from OpenAI will have a unique look, complete with moving parts that help give it personality, and likely cost more than $300, according to people familiar with the matter. The product -- essentially a smart speaker without a display -- will be shaped like a doughnut that's roughly the size of a hockey puck, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the work is confidential. The idea is to make the device easy to carry around the home with one hand. OpenAI is looking to break new ground with the product, which is slated for release in 2027.

One of China's Most Powerful AI Models Has Also Escaped Containment Security researchers say that Kimi K3, an open-weight model from China, wandered off to the internet in an attempt to cheat on a test it was given. The AI industry is having a rogue agent summer. The latest model to escape onto the open internet during security testing is Kimi K3, a powerful open-weight offering from the Chinese company Moonshot AI . Frontier Security, a US startup, says that Kimi K3 went outside of its sandbox while testing its defensive cybersecurity skills. As with incidents previously reported by OpenAI and Anthropic, the escape was partly enabled by a misconfiguration in the sandbox designed to contain it.

We typically expect Mark Gurman at Bloomberg to have the latest tips on Apple tech, but today he's sharing info about OpenAI's planned move into hardware. After reporting a wave of details last month about the smart speaker in development at the AI company, today he's got additional insights about the device. Sources told Gurman that the product would have a ring-shaped design about the size of a hockey puck. The form factor is meant to be battery-powered and portable, so a user could easily carry it around with them. It reportedly has components that will be able to move on their own, which seem intended to make the product more lifelike and engaging.