Large Language Model
What Anthropic's latest AI discovery does--and doesn't--show
The company says it has found a new window into how its models arrive at answers. We spoke with senior editor Will Douglas Heaven about it. Anthropic--currently the world's most valuable AI company, with a nearly $1 trillion valuation--has a reputation for publishing strange and heady research. It's looking into whether AI models can feel pain, for example, and will sometimes cut off chatbot conversations if it suspects users are "abusing" the model. One niche that Anthropic spends more time and money on than other AI companies is called mechanistic interpretability, which means looking inside the complex math of an AI model to learn why it comes up with one particular output and not another. It's complicated stuff; there are millions of data points that might contribute to any result, and wading through them can look more like word salad than anything useful.
Want to try the latest ChatGPT and Claude models? Now's your chance
PCWorld reports that OpenAI and Anthropic have temporarily relaxed usage limits for their latest AI models, including GPT-5.6 Sol and Claude's Fable 5. ChatGPT Plus, Business, and Pro subscribers can now access GPT-5.6 Sol without the previous five-hour usage window restrictions. This increased access appears driven by competition between the AI companies, giving users more opportunities to experience advanced reasoning capabilities. If you haven't kicked the tires yet on the latest and greatest ChatGPT and Claude models, this is your lucky week. OpenAI is (fittingly) opening the flood gates to GPT-5.6 Sol, its just-released and most powerful model, announcing Sunday that it's "temporarily" lifting the five-hour usage window for ChatGPT Plus, Business, and Pro subscribers. At the same time, Anthropic is - again - extending the trial period for Fable 5, its own new top-of-the-line, giving Claude subscribers another week of in-plan access .
The secret to human 'brilliance' that AI just can't match
People often make decisions through "satisficing," gathering just enough information to make a satisfactory prediction of a likely outcome. A series of experimental games shows that people also employ satisficing to learn social rules and conventions. This finding offers new insight into social learning and reveals a key difference between how humans and LLMs make predictions. The premise of AI large language models is that any problem can be solved by vacuuming up as much information as possible, running it through probability models, and performing complex calculations to make predictions and come up with the optimal solution. Another premise behind LLMs is that they emulate the way human brains operate.
The Download: a donor conception cap and world models for AI
Plus: Apple has sued OpenAI for allegedly stealing trade secrets. Ties van der Meer doesn't know how many siblings he has. The 47-year-old was conceived at a private fertility clinic using sperm from an anonymous donor. He eventually tracked down one sibling, but he may have others he'll never find. Other donor-conceived people have found they have tens or even hundreds of them. "It does make you feel a bit mass-produced," said one who discovered they had 25 half-siblings.
Access ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini for a flat 60
When you purchase through links in our articles, we may earn a small commission. ChatPlayground AI's Unlimited Plan gives you lifetime access to 20+ AI models, including ChatGPT, Gemini, and Claude, in one place for a single $59.97 payment through July 19 at 11:59 PM. ChatPlayground AI puts ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude, Llama, and more than 20 other models into a single dashboard. Send one prompt and get multiple responses back side by side, so you can compare answers in real time instead of copy-pasting between apps or paying for separate credits on each platform. Saved chats, so ongoing projects don't get lost between sessions Because it's a lifetime plan rather than a subscription, there's no monthly bill to keep an eye on after the initial purchase -- you buy access once, and it's yours going forward.
OpenAI, Meta, SpaceXAI compete for more cost-efficient AI models
Tech companies' renewed emphasis on cost coincides with business customers scrutinizing AI spending. Three prominent artificial intelligence developers released new models over the past week. They all promise to be more advanced, but their biggest immediate selling point may not be what they can do, but how little they charge to do it. OpenAI said its most advanced offering, GPT-5.6, is designed to complete more work while using significantly fewer tokens, a unit of data processed by AI models. This will make the software far more cost efficient for customers. Grok 4.5, from Elon Musk's SpaceXAI, is billed as having twice the token efficiency as comparable models from other firms.
ChatGPT is 20/month. Get GPT, Claude, and Gemini for a full year for 30.
When you purchase through links in our articles, we may earn a small commission. Get GPT, Claude, and Gemini for a full year for $30. A year of access to premium Language Learning Models is available in a single app for $29.99 (MSRP $39.99). If you've been thinking about paid AI tools but hate the idea of shelling out at least $20 a month to find out if the upgrade is worth it, an aggregator could be your next move. One year of ChatOn Premium gives you access to GPT, Claude, Gemini, and Sonar -- no separate subscriptions.
AI companies want to water down Australia's copyright laws. Artists are outraged, Labor is split
When Anna Funder stood before a pack of journalists at Parliament House this month, she presented herself not just as a writer but also a "victim of crime". The Stasiland author was using the analogy to illustrate how technology companies have flagrantly "hoovered up" her literary works for their own profit. Authors, artists, musicians and media organisations were last year assured those laws wouldn't be watered down when the federal government ruled out granting a legal exemption for artificial intelligence companies to mine content to train their large language models, which include ChatGPT, Gemini and Claude. But continual lobbying from tech giants and a whistleblower's tipoff to the independent senator David Pocock have ignited fears that the Albanese government might go back on its word - even as it continues to insist that it won't. The stoush has exposed splits within Labor about how to respond to AI and raised questions about how far the government should bend - if at all - to big tech to capture the supposed riches of the datacentre boom.
OpenAI's head of safety is reportedly leaving as part of company reorganization
OpenAI's head of safety is reportedly leaving as part of company reorganization OpenAI's head of safety is reportedly leaving as part of company reorganization The role will be replaced by an executive in charge of both research and safety teams. Along with a significant restructuring of OpenAI's safety and research teams, the company's head of safety systems is expected to leave his post, according to a new report. As first reported by Wired, Johannes Heidecke told OpenAI staff in a memo seen by that he would be leaving the company. Heidecke first started at OpenAI in 2021, according to his LinkedIn. According to the report, OpenAI's Saachi Jain, who has led OpenAI's safety teams before, will slot in as the interim head of safety systems following Heidecke's departure.