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StatementFrontierComputeUSReported

OpenAI targets an automated research intern by September 2026 and an AI researcher by 2028

See how this story connects

Source: TechCrunch

In a livestream, Sam Altman and chief scientist Jakub Pachocki said OpenAI aims to have an intern-level AI research assistant by September 2026 and a fully automated “legitimate AI researcher” by 2028, which Pachocki described as a system capable of autonomously delivering on larger research projects. Pachocki said it is possible that deep learning systems are less than a decade away from superintelligence. OpenAI said it had committed to 30 gigawatts of infrastructure, about $1.4 trillion over the next few years. The same day OpenAI completed its restructuring into a public benefit corporation, with the non-profit OpenAI Foundation owning 26% and committing $25bn to using AI to cure diseases.

Why it matters

OpenAI put dates on automating its own research, which made self-improvement a scheduled milestone it later reported against.

When
28 Oct 2025
ID
WTA-N-2025-0190
Who
OpenAI, OpenAI Foundation; Sam Altman, Jakub Pachocki

Summary by wheresthe.ai, from TechCrunch. We could not open the primary document, so it is marked Reported. Checked against the source on 13 Oct 2026.

Read the original at TechCrunch

Source copy: download the page as saved on 18 Oct 2026 (PDF). Also held by the Internet Archive.

Next stop on this Storyline: Led toOpenAI says it has built its automated research intern, with 3.1 agent-days per human day

Cite this story

WTA-N-2025-0190: “OpenAI targets an automated research intern by September 2026 and an AI researcher by 2028.” wheresthe.ai, 28 Oct 2025. https://wheresthe.ai/d/openai-automated-researcher-targets-2025-10/ (source: TechCrunch).

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