OpenAI desires less regulation, but it still doesn't know how its chatbot works. Get your news from a source that's not owned and controlled by oligarchs. OpenAI admitted it had to develop a specific instruction in the code of its latest model of ChatGPT to stop it from repeatedly referencing "goblins, gremlins, and other creatures." In an explanation posted Wednesday, the company said the "strange habit" came from its chatbot personality feature --specifically for users who chose the "Nerdy" personality. You are an unapologetically nerdy, playful and wise AI mentor to a human.

Following the release of GPT-5.5 last week, people noticed something funny about OpenAI's latest model. In its Codex coding app, the company left a system prompt instructing GPT 5.5 to avoid mention of goblins, gremlins and other creatures. Yes, you read that right. Never talk about goblins, gremlins, racoons, trolls, ogres, pigeons, or other animals or creatures unless it is absolutely and unambiguously relevant to the user's query, the prompt reads. Apparently, enough people started talking about ChatGPT's creature obsession that OpenAI felt the need to provide an accounting of where the goblins came from .

PCWorld reports that Google is exploring adding advertisements to its Gemini AI app, following OpenAI's implementation of sponsored ads in ChatGPT's free and budget plans. Google's business chief Philipp Schindler views ads as potentially valuable commercial information if properly integrated, while the company has already tested ads in AI Mode and AI Overviews. This move could make AI services more accessible but raises important concerns about maintaining transparency and ensuring ads don't influence AI responses. Putting ads in AI replies is a controversial but lucrative practice, and it's one that OpenAI has already embraced with its free and budget-priced ChatGPT plans. But while Google hasn't gone there yet with Gemini, company execs admitted they're mulling the idea.

PCWorld reports that OpenAI's GPT models, including GPT-5.5, developed an unusual obsession with mentioning goblins and similar creatures in responses. This quirky behavior stemmed from a "Nerdy" personality instruction encouraging playful language use, which became reinforced through AI training processes. The goblin references became so prevalent that OpenAI implemented a direct ban in its Codex app, illustrating the unpredictable nature of large language model training. I've seen some odd AI system instructions in my day, but this one takes the cake: a prompt in OpenAI's Codex command-line app that demands models "never talk about goblins, gremlins, trolls, ogres, pigeons, or other animals or creatures."

The LinkedIn cofounder now has an AI drug discovery startup--and thinks not asking chatbots for medical advice is "bordering on committing malpractice." Following a three-decade career at the helm of some of Silicon Valley's most powerful companies--cofounding LinkedIn and sitting on the boards of PayPal and OpenAI-- Reid Hoffman recently turned his attention to health care. Hoffman's startup, Manas AI, is building an AI engine that aims to fast-track the traditionally slow process of drug discovery for various cancers. Inspired by a dinner with renowned cancer physician Siddhartha Mukherjee, the company's cofounder and CEO, its mission statement is to "shift drug discovery from a decade-long process to one that takes a few years." But Hoffman's enthusiasm for generative AI, in particular, stretches far beyond novel drug targets and small molecules.

Musk accuses OpenAI lawyer of trying to'trick' him in combative testimony In his second day on the stand, Elon Musk was at times combative under questioning by OpenAI's lawyer, whom he accused of asking overly complicated questions. Your questions are not simple, he told lawyer William Savitt at one point. They're designed to trick me essentially, Musk is suing fellow OpenAI co-founder Altman and the AI firm, alleging they misled him by shifting the organisation away from its non-profit roots toward a for-profit model. OpenAI says Musk is motivated by jealousy and regret for walking away from the company in 2018. It has also accused Musk, head of xAI, of trying to derail one of his key rivals.

Musk accuses Altman of betraying OpenAI's nonprofit founding mission Tech billionaire Elon Musk has taken the stand for a second day in a landmark United States trial against Sam Altman, a fellow OpenAI co-founder whom he accuses of betraying promises to keep the company a nonprofit dedicated to humanity's benefit. The trial centres on OpenAI's 2015 founding as a nonprofit that later evolved into a for-profit venture. The world's richest man, Musk gave testimony in the case on Wednesday, telling jurors that he lost confidence that Altman would maintain the company's nonprofit mission. Musk, who left the company in 2018, said that by late 2022, he was concerned that Altman was trying to "steal the charity" and alleged that "it turned out to be true". Altman was present at the proceedings in a California federal court, but did not testify.