WorkThe story, in brief
OpenAI dissolved the team built to catch catastrophic AI risks, reassigning its work to other groups
OpenAI dismantled its safety team. Internally, staff are calling it a 'sense of dread.'
The KeyNews take
Why it matters
A major AI lab's decision to dissolve its dedicated catastrophic-risk evaluation team signals a strategic shift on safety governance—raising questions about how frontier labs will police themselves as models grow more powerful.
The key facts
4 to knowOpenAI dissolved the Preparedness team, which evaluated catastrophic AI risks from the company's own models
Work reassigned to other existing groups; several safety staffers departed
Internal source describes 'burbling sense of responsibility and dread' about safety adequacy
Timing: August 2026; reflects broader lab-culture shift on safety prioritization
Go to the source
The Decoderthe-decoder.com
Publisher excerpt: OpenAI shut down its "Preparedness" team, which evaluated whether the company's own AI models could pose catastrophic risks. The work has been parceled out to existing groups, and several safety staffers have left. Internally, unease is building, with one source describing a "burbling sense of…