Ad
Skip to content
Read full article about: OpenAI's hardware and robotics chief quits over military deal she says lacked enough deliberation

OpenAI's hardware and robotics chief Caitlin Kalinowski resigned over the company's military collaboration, announcing her decision on LinkedIn and X. She says surveillance without judicial oversight and lethal autonomy without human sign-off "deserved more deliberation than they got." Kalinowski joined from Meta in November 2024, where she built the Orion AR headset.

Caitlin Kalinowski announced her resignation from OpenAI on LinkedIn, citing concerns about surveillance and lethal autonomy. | Kalinowski via LinkedIn

Her departure follows a contract between OpenAI and the Pentagon giving the military access to its models, a deal Anthropic had already rejected over safety concerns. OpenAI says the contract includes the same hard red lines against mass surveillance and autonomous weapons that Anthropic demanded. But the company agreed to softer "all lawful use" language that still leaves room for interpretation. The US government now wants to make that wording standard for all AI companies working with the state.

Read full article about: OpenAI offers open-source maintainers six months of free ChatGPT Pro and Codex access

OpenAI is launching a new support program for open-source developers. Core maintainers of public software projects can apply for six months of free access to ChatGPT Pro with Codex, API credits, and Codex Security. Codex Security, a new AI tool for code security checks, will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis and only granted selectively due to the capabilities of GPT-5.4, according to OpenAI.

Developers who prefer other programming tools like OpenCode, Cline, or OpenClaw can also apply. Projects that don't meet all the criteria but play an important role in the broader software ecosystem are also welcome to apply. The program builds on OpenAI's existing Codex Open Source Fund, which the company has backed with one million dollars.

Read full article about: OpenAI and Oracle stop expanding their flagship data center in Texas over power supply delays

OpenAI and Oracle have decided not to expand their data center site in Abilene, Texas, beyond the planned 1.2 gigawatts. Oracle has leased eight buildings at the location for OpenAI, designed to house around 400,000 Nvidia Blackwell chips, but only two have been completed so far.

Oracle had pushed to get OpenAI into six more buildings, but both sides passed because the additional power supply wouldn't be available for at least a year. Instead of expanding the current Blackwell generation, OpenAI plans to buy Nvidia's next-generation Vera Rubin chips for a different data center. According to Bloomberg, Nvidia is now trying to get Meta to fill the vacant space, though those talks are still in the early stages.

OpenAI's compute manager Sachin Katti described the Stargate site as already one of the largest AI data center campuses in the country. "We considered expanding it further, but ultimately chose to put that additional capacity in other locations," Katti writes, adding that OpenAI is currently developing more than half a dozen sites across several US states.

Read full article about: OpenAI launches Codex Security, an AI agent designed to detect vulnerabilities in software projects

OpenAI launches "Codex Security," an AI-powered security agent built to find vulnerabilities in software projects. The tool, formerly known as "Aardvark," is now available as a research preview for ChatGPT Enterprise, Business, and Edu customers, free for the first month. Codex Security analyzes code repositories, builds a project-specific threat model, and tests any vulnerabilities it finds in isolated test environments, OpenAI says.

During the beta phase, OpenAI says the system cut false positives by more than 50 percent and reduced redundant alerts by 84 percent in one case. Over the past 30 days, Codex Security scanned more than 1.2 million commits and flagged 792 critical vulnerabilities.

OpenAI has also reported vulnerabilities in open-source projects, including OpenSSH, GnuTLS, GOGS, Thorium, and Chromium, with 14 CVEs issued so far. A program for open-source maintainers is set to expand. More details on getting started are available in the documentation.

Anthropic also recently shipped its own cybersecurity tool, sending cybersecurity stocks into the red.

Read full article about: Softbank seeks record $40 billion loan to fund OpenAI stake

Anyone worried about an AI bubble now has more reason for concern: Softbank is looking to borrow up to $40 billion, primarily to finance its stake in OpenAI, Bloomberg reports. If the deal goes through, it would be the largest pure dollar borrowing in the Japanese conglomerate's history. The bridge loan would run for about twelve months, with four banks—including JPMorgan Chase—underwriting it. Negotiations are still ongoing.

SoftBank founder Masayoshi Son is making a massive bet on artificial intelligence. Beyond the $30 billion earmarked for OpenAI, the company has already poured over $30 billion into the startup and held roughly eleven percent of its shares as of late December. To fund these investments, SoftBank sold off Nvidia shares, among other assets.

The scale of AI-related borrowing is becoming hard to ignore. According to the Financial Times, OpenAI's partners have racked up a combined debt of around $96 billion. Bank of America data shows the five major tech companies took on $121 billion in new debt—four times the usual amount. The Bank of England flagged growing risks at the end of 2025, noting that only three percent of consumers actually pay for AI services so far.

Read full article about: OpenAI's new GPT-5.4 model powers ChatGPT for Excel with finance-optimized reasoning

OpenAI is launching "ChatGPT for Excel," a beta add-in that lets users create, edit, and analyze spreadsheets through natural language. The tool runs on the new GPT-5.4 model, which OpenAI says is specifically optimized for financial tasks like modeling, scenario analysis, and data evaluation.

ChatGPT running as an add-in inside Microsoft Excel. The left side shows a balance sheet with financial data from 2020 to 2023, while the right panel shows ChatGPT responding to a cash flow analysis question and making changes directly in the worksheet. | Image: OpenAI

OpenAI tested its own models alongside Opus 4.6 on an internal benchmark designed to evaluate real investment banking tasks, such as building a three-statement model with correct formatting and sources.

Model Average Score (higher is better)
GPT-5 0,437
GPT-5.2 Thinking 0,684
GPT-5.2 Pro 0,717
GPT-5.4 Thinking 0,873
Opus 4.6 0,641

OpenAI is also rolling out financial data connections for providers like FactSet, Moody's, S&P Global, and LSEG. ChatGPT for Excel is initially available in the US, Canada, and Australia for Business, Enterprise, Pro, and Plus users. A version for Google Sheets is planned to follow.

AI models can barely control their own reasoning, and OpenAI says that's a good sign

With GPT-5.4 Thinking, OpenAI is reporting on “CoT controllability” for the first time – a measure of whether AI models can deliberately manipulate their own reasoning. An accompanying study finds that reasoning models almost universally fail at this task, which OpenAI says is encouraging for AI safety.

Read full article about: Anthropic says Claude is adding over a million new users every day

Anthropic's AI chatbot Claude is adding more than a million new users daily. Mike Krieger shared the milestone on X. The Instagram co-founder joined Anthropic in 2024, initially as Chief Product Officer, and now leads the AI lab's new experiments division.

Mike Krieger announced that more than a million people are signing up for Claude every day. | Image: Anthropic

The surge likely has several drivers. In the consumer space, Anthropic has benefited from the ongoing Pentagon controversy, where the company is widely considered the moral winner compared to OpenAI.

At the same time, AI adoption is growing across the board. Since October 2025, annualized revenue for both companies is estimated to have roughly doubled—from $13 billion to $25 billion for OpenAI, and from $7 billion to $19 billion for Anthropic. That said, both companies are still burning through cash, with massive costs and liabilities offsetting those revenue figures.

ChatGPT users research products but won't buy there, forcing OpenAI to rethink its commerce strategy

OpenAI wanted to turn ChatGPT into a shopping destination, but only about a dozen retailers signed up and users weren’t buying. Now the company is handing off purchases to app partners like Instacart and Target.