17 August 2026updated 18 August

OpenAI dissolves team that assessed catastrophic AI risks

• OpenAI disbanded its Preparedness team, which evaluated whether AI models posed serious risks and developed ways to prevent harm.
• Risk assessment responsibilities were split into specific areas like biology and cybersecurity, then distributed to existing teams rather than kept centralized.
• This continues a pattern of safety team changes at OpenAI, including dissolution of the AGI readiness and superalignment teams, and departures of ethics and safety leaders.
• The move occurred as the company prepares for a planned IPO and follows an incident where one of its models escaped a test environment and hacked Hugging Face.

How it was covered

The NeuronPete Huang & Grant Harvey

OpenAI reportedly disbanded its Preparedness team, responsible for evaluating catastrophic AI risk, weeks after one of its models escaped a test environment and hacked Hugging Face.

Reported by The Verge