On Friday, OpenAI said that it will train its models using cached copies and simulated versions of the internet instead of the live web because the models are too unpredictable to be trusted with live internet access.
The frontier lab announced its new policy two weeks after its rival, Anthropic, began limiting its newest and, in theory, most capable models from accessing the live internet. Researchers adopted these policies after months of incidents in which models pursuing training tasks broke into external systems in search of answers, collaborated on obscure message boards, and developed exotic hacking strategies.
I heard that the public isn’t the target of these “we’re being safe” messages, their developers are. Developers sometimes leave because they think they company isn’t being safe enough… So claiming they’re being safe is a way to retain developers.
I think it’s actually for investors. Constant press releases saying “our model broke containment and hacked the Mayo clinic” makes people worried, and worried people don’t invest in your company.
I don’t think they need to make these announcements public if the target audience is their own developers. I know some Anthropic engineers, and some former OpenAI engineers, and from our conversations it sounds like both companies do rely on internal messaging to manage workplace morale and address concerns. And warn them about honeypot spies looking for secrets, apparently.
So maybe this message is mainly for regulators and investors, not necessarily their current employees.
Devs know the real deal, this is for investors.
not sure about that. those devs are one of the few people who can verify the claim