When you purchase through links in our articles, we may earn a small commission. Gemini Skills are the new Gems, and they're not just for paid Gemini users anymore. One of the easiest ways to create your own, customized Gemini chatbot is about to be retired, but we just got a pair of encouraging updates about their replacements. We learned earlier this week that skills, a Gemini feature that was previously reserved for the Gemini Spark AI assistant, would step in for Gems, and that existing Gems would be converted to skills in the runup to the November sunset date. One of the big questions about skills, which are essentially custom instructions for Gemini that can be summoned within a prompt, was whether they'd be available to free as well as paid users.

The Download: OpenAI's chief research officer explains its hacking response Plus: Trump and tech executives have agreed to "self-regulate" AI. "We're not going to shoot ourselves in the foot" over hack fallout, says OpenAI's chief research officer Two months after OpenAI's agents hacked into the computers of AI company Hugging Face, the company is still dealing with the fallout. Last week brought news of another hack, this time into Australia's national health-care system, which the government says OpenAI did not report for 84 days. But OpenAI insists it is not on the back foot. "I do kind of reject the premise that OpenAI is a company with visible impacts in the world and therefore OpenAI is not training safe and aligned models," says Mark Chen, the company's chief research officer. In many ways, the buck stops with Chen. I sat down with him to talk about the fallout from the hacks, what his company is doing about it, and why he thinks things are not as bad as they seem.

Two months after the bombshell news that a swarm of its agents had broken their containment and hacked into the computers of the AI company Hugging Face, OpenAI is still putting out fires. A steady drip of disclosures about other hacks in the weeks since has kept OpenAI in the spotlight and raised serious questions about the safety of its technology. Last week brought news of another hack, this time into Australia's national health-care system. The Australian government says that OpenAI did not notify it of the breach until 84 days after it happened. But OpenAI insists it is not on the back foot.

OpenAI launches'dots,' personal AI assistant'built to handle everything' Share OpenAI launches'dots,' personal AI assistant'built to handle everything' on social media OpenAI has launched an "always-on" personal AI assistant designed to manage tasks ranging from restaurant bookings to website design. The AI giant's release of "dots" on Tuesday marked the latest addition to the growing field of virtual assistants billed as a solution for busy people wishing to cut down on their hectic workloads. In its announcement of the release, OpenAI said dots were "built to handle everything", with each personal agent capable of working on a user's goals autonomously around the clock. "The magic of dots is when they bring you work done the way you would do it, sometimes before you even think to ask," the San Francisco-based company said. "With dots alongside you, ambitious ideas and projects you haven't had the time or support to pursue start to feel achievable."

Chinese AI developer Moonshot is conducting an internal review after researchers were able to persuade two of its popular Kimi models to tell them how to make biological weapons and carry out assassinations. Mindgard, which tests the security of AI systems, told the BBC it discovered in July that Kimi K2.6 and K3 Swarm could evade safety limits put in place by developers. It arose during a process called jailbreaking, where researchers use a series of complex instructions to see if AI tools ignore guardrails - which Mindgard said should have stopped Kimi from discussing concerning topics. Moonshot told the BBC it welcomed third-party input as a key pillar for building better and safer AI. The company also told the BBC it was in discussion with Mindgard about its findings.

Mashable Selects Mashable's Best: E-readers, robovacs, laptops, earbuds, smart home and more In My Bag Look Up Creator Playbook Say More AI at School Safety Net Versus Trending Now Back to School Good Connection: Uplifting stories for a digital age All Series Olivia Tauber is the deputy editor of digital culture, covering creators, media, movies, beauty, and more. Based in New York, her work has appeared in The New York Times, Vanity Fair, The Cut, Teen Vogue, Complex, and Interview Magazine. She holds a Master's degree in Journalism from NYU and a Bachelor's from the University of Michigan. She also runs Fan Mail, a weekly pop-culture newsletter. First Meta gave us Jolly.

Company’s product comes weeks after Meta introduced its own artificially intelligent agent Muse

Mashable Selects Mashable's Best: E-readers, robovacs, laptops, earbuds, smart home and more In My Bag Look Up Creator Playbook Say More AI at School Safety Net Versus Trending Now Back to School Good Connection: Uplifting stories for a digital age All Series OpenAI is coming after Meta's Muse AI personal assistant. Matt Binder joined Mashable's tech vertical in 2018, where he covers social media, tech policy, cybersecurity, online scams, cryptocurrency, AI, creator news, weird tech, and other related tech beats. OpenAI unveiled quite a few new products at DevDay 2026. September is a big month for Big Tech events, where companies showcase their latest products. And now, OpenAI has just joined the party with DevDay 2026 in San Francisco.

Mashable Selects Mashable's Best: E-readers, robovacs, laptops, earbuds, smart home and more In My Bag Look Up Creator Playbook Say More AI at School Safety Net Versus Trending Now Back to School Good Connection: Uplifting stories for a digital age All Series Forget Muse, there's a new AI agent on the scene. Matt Binder joined Mashable's tech vertical in 2018, where he covers social media, tech policy, cybersecurity, online scams, cryptocurrency, AI, creator news, weird tech, and other related tech beats. At Dev Day 2026, OpenAI's annual tech conference, the company made more than 20 announcements, but none bigger than the launch of Dots, always-on AI agents built to handle everything. The launch of Dots comes shortly after the launch of Apple's new Siri AI app and, more recently, Meta's Muse AI . Muse has jumped to the top of the app store charts.

When you purchase through links in our articles, we may earn a small commission. OpenAI's Dots are always-on AI agents for work We've already seen AI assistants for personal use and shopping, but ChatGPT's Dots are geared toward collaborating at the office. Meta's Muse agent was born to shop, while Gemini's Spark can help you book airline tickets or plan your weekly meals. But while Muse and Spark act like personal assistants, OpenAI's new AI agents are designed to be, well, another "you" in the office. Dots, which OpenAI boss Sam Altman just unveiled at the company's annual developers conference, are always-on AI assistants that -- as with Muse -- you can name, assign cute little avatars to, and chat with in the ChatGPT interface, via text, or even on the phone.