Generative AI
The Download: Claude's inner workings and OpenAI's "super app"
Plus: OpenAI has unveiled its long-awaited super app. The AI firm Anthropic has got the clearest glimpse yet at what's really going on inside large language models as they answer questions or carry out tasks. What they found ranges from the mundane to the unnerving. Researchers at the company built a tool called the Jacobian lens (or J-lens) and used it to uncover a hidden area, which they named the J-space, inside its flagship LLM, Claude. The J-space contains words related to the response a model is working on but may not ultimately produce. If Claude were a person (which it is not), you might say these hidden words reveal what's on its mind before it actually speaks.
OpenAI's CEO of AGI Deployment, Fidji Simo, Is Stepping Down
The move comes after Simo took significant medical leave. She will stay on as a part-time adviser. OpenAI's chief executive of AGI deployment, Fidji Simo, is leaving her full-time role at the company and transitioning to become a part-time adviser. The move comes after Simo took a monthslong medical leave due to a worsening neuroimmune condition. "Three months ago, I had to go on medical leave after a severe exacerbation of a chronic illness I've lived with for seven years," Simo wrote in a post Thursday on X. "During that time, it became clear that the road to recovery would be much longer and more complex than I had anticipated--and that I needed to focus on it fully."
OpenAI releases a new ChatGPT tool for all things work related
The company's long-awaited super app is here. Since the start of March, OpenAI has been publicly working on a desktop super app designed to bring together ChatGPT, its Codex coding agent and Atlas web browser under one roof. In April, the company began laying the groundwork for that project, and now it's taking its biggest step toward realizing that vision with the release of ChatGPT Work . OpenAI describes its latest offering as something of a general purpose productivity agent. Where Codex was designed primarily for coding projects, OpenAI says Work is here to help people with some of their most ambitious tasks.
OpenAI releases latest ChatGPT model after delay over White House cybersecurity concerns
OpenAI released its latest advanced AI model, called ChatGPT 5.6. OpenAI released its latest advanced AI model, called ChatGPT 5.6. Staggered release of ChatGPT 5.6 follows similar restrictions on rival firm Anthropic's latest AI models OpenAI released its latest advanced AI model, called ChatGPT 5.6, on Thursday after earlier delaying the public rollout over US government concerns about cybersecurity. The Trump administration had requested last month that OpenAI limit the release to a small group of government-approved users. OpenAI complied with the White House's request last month.
ChatGPT's new voice mode will slow down if you tell it to
ChatGPT's new voice mode will slow down if you tell it to ChatGPT's new voice mode will slow down if you tell it to It will also acknowledge you as you speak. OpenAI is releasing two new voice models today called GPT-Live-1 and GPT-Live-1 mini the company says bring major enhancements to ChatGPT's voice functionality. You may recall the company launched Advanced Voice Mode in the summer of 2024 . On release, the feature was impressive and felt like a major upgrade over legacy voice assistants like Siri and Alexa, but over time its limitations began to feel more pronounced. Specifically, Advanced Voice Mode employed what OpenAI describes as a turn-based voice model, which functions exactly like it sounds.
Meta Now Lets Anyone Use Your Instagram Photos in AI Images--Unless You Opt Out
As part of Meta's Muse Image model rollout, Instagram users with public accounts need to opt out to block AI generations of their content. Meta launched its inaugural AI image model from the Meta Superintelligence Labs on Tuesday, its effort to compete with the likes of OpenAI's GPT Images 2.0 and Google's Nano Banana 2 in the AI image generation race. The new model, called Muse Image, rolled out with deep integrations woven into the Instagram app. As part of this update, public Instagram profiles are now automatically opted into being fodder for generative AI remixes. All someone has to do is tag your account's profile in a prompt--if it's public--and they can use Meta AI to generate an image using your likeness.
OpenAI's Chief Futurist Is Leaving the Company
OpenAI's Chief Futurist Is Leaving the Company Joshua Achiam spent nearly nine years at OpenAI researching AI safety and made a memorable appearance in the trial. OpenAI's chief futurist, Joshua Achiam, notified colleagues on Tuesday that he is leaving the company later this month after nearly nine years, WIRED has learned. Achiam, who previously led a team tasked with upholding the organization's nonprofit mission, told OpenAI staff that his departure was not motivated by any specific reason, but was something he's been thinking about for a while. "The world is in on the secret now and it feels possible to work on the mission from outside the walls of a frontier lab," Achiam said in a note to staff obtained by WIRED. "I believe we can get to a world of peace, unprecedented prosperity, and unimaginable possibilities, social and scientific. Whatever I do next, I will continue to work with you on making this vision real."
Canadian province sues OpenAI over alleged ChatGPT-linked shooting warnings
The Canadian province of British Columbia is preparing to sue OpenAI, alleging the US company failed to alert police after its staff internally flagged violent ChatGPT conversations linked to the person responsible for February's Tumbler Ridge mass shooting . Attorney General Niki Sharma announced Tuesday that the province has hired legal teams in British Columbia and California to "explore all legal avenues to hold OpenAI and its decision-makers accountable for its documented failure to notify law enforcement regarding explicit, flagged threats made by the perpetrator on the company's ChatGPT platform." The move stems from the February 10 attack in the remote mountain community of Tumbler Ridge, where authorities say 18-year-old Jesse Van Rootselaar killed their mother and half-brother before going to the Tumbler Ridge Secondary School and opening fire. Five children between the ages of 11 and 13 and one educator were killed at the school. Twenty-seven other people were wounded before Van Rootselaar died from what police described as a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
The Download: your stake in OpenAI, and the Treasury's AI warning
Plus: Samsung profits have jumped 1,800% on booming AI chip sales. Sam Altman's proposal that Americans should share in the wealth created by AI is back in the spotlight, with reports that he is discussing giving the US government a 5% stake in OpenAI. At the company's current valuation, that stake would be worth roughly $320 per American household. The idea is meant to address concerns that AI companies are benefiting from human-generated work without compensating creators, while also easing fears that AI will cause a collapse of the labor market by providing a safety net. The details, however, remain unclear. Indeed, the offer may be more powerful as a political narrative than as a policy plan.
Your family's 300 stake in OpenAI
Sam Altman wants Americans to share in AI's wealth. The proposal may be more revealing as a political narrative than as a policy plan. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman's oft-discussed promise that Americans will share in the wealth AI creates was in the news again last week. On Thursday, the reported that Altman is in talks with President Trump about giving the US government a 5% stake in OpenAI. In some ways, Altman's plan is old news. He wrote about a more radical version of this back in 2021, proposing that companies above a certain valuation (not just AI companies) pay 2.5% of their market value each year into a fund that sends Americans annual disbursements.