OpenAI has made building an Artificial Intelligence researcher its new grand challenge. The company is aiming for a fully automated agent-based system capable of tackling large, complex problems by itself, and it has framed that objective as its “north star” for the next few years. The effort centers on creating a system that can independently handle research tasks rather than simply assist human users.
By September, the company plans to build “an autonomous AI research intern” that can take on a small number of specific research problems. The intern is intended to serve as the precursor to the fully automated multi-agent system, which is slated to debut in 2028. OpenAI chief scientist Jakub Pachocki outlined the plan in an interview, signaling that the company is concentrating significant effort on this long-range research agenda.
Interest in psychedelic drugs has also continued to rise as researchers explore compounds such as psilocybin for health applications including depression, PTSD, addiction, and obesity. But two studies released earlier this week highlighted how difficult these substances are to study. The findings point to persistent weaknesses in clinical trial design and reinforce concerns that enthusiasm around psychedelics has outpaced the evidence needed to assess them cleanly.
The broader technology conversation around these developments was framed alongside a stream of other industry and policy headlines, including OpenAI’s reported push toward a “super app,” US charges against Super Micro’s co-founder over smuggling Artificial Intelligence tech to China, and federal action against botnets linked to the largest-ever DDoS attack. Concerns about energy pressures on the Artificial Intelligence sector, national security questions around foreign workers in leading labs, and the growing role of Artificial Intelligence in surveillance, moderation, and online crime added to a picture of a fast-moving and increasingly contested technology landscape.
The edition also pointed to a cultural countercurrent in technology through a feature on gamification. What was once promoted as a path to “blissful productivity” and human potential was recast as a system that became associated with coercion, distraction, and control rather than liberation. That framing echoed a wider skepticism running through the day’s themes, where ambitious technical promises are increasingly being weighed against practical limitations and unintended consequences.
