AI News August 17, 2026
Today's AI headlines: What happens when a kid’s robot best friend dies?, Qwen 3.8 27B is excellent, but it defaults to wildly overthinking things, OpenAI report
What happens when a kid’s robot best friend dies?
When Xander first met Moxie, she taught him that when he was anxious, he could calm down by exhaling through his lips so that he buzzed like a bee. They practiced breathing like dragons to manage feeling mad and sniffing like bunnies to boost his energy. But in the six years they’ve known each other,…
Qwen 3.8 27B is excellent, but it defaults to wildly overthinking things
OpenAI reportedly disbanded its preparedness team
According to the Financial Times, OpenAI disbanded its preparedness team at the end of last month. The job of the preparedness team was to assess if models posed serious risks and develop ways to mitigate those risks. (You know, like the possibility that it could go rogue and hack another company.) According to FT, responsibility has instead been divided up for specific areas like bio and cyber, then moved into existing teams.
This is the latest change at the company, which has been in upheaval