Sam Altman announces another delay for OpenAI's open-weight model, for further safety testing; the model was slated to be released next week
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said Friday the company is delaying the release of its open model, which was already pushed back a month earlier in this summer.
TechCrunchMaxwell Zeff
Context & Ripple Effects
OpenAI’s planned return to open-weight releases followed an April commitment to a reasoning-capable model, its first such release since GPT-2. That commitment came after Altman had characterized releasing weights and research as under discussion rather than a top priority in a February discussion of whether to publish model weights.
The additional pause makes safety validation a release gate for this project, not a parallel process. It also lands against reports that OpenAI had shortened evaluation windows for newer models, creating a sharper contrast with the earlier reports of compressed risk-evaluation timelines.
First-order effects
Developers and organizations waiting to run, adapt, or evaluate OpenAI’s model weights must defer those plans while OpenAI continues safety testing.
OpenAI absorbs another schedule slip on a strategically notable product promise and must clear its own safety bar before distributing weights that users can operate independently.
Second-order effects
The pause extends the period in which prospective users must rely on other available models or hosted AI services, rather than incorporating OpenAI’s planned open-weight offering into their stacks.
It raises the practical importance of evidence from pre-release testing: a safety review can now directly determine delivery timing, rather than merely shape documentation or launch messaging.
Third-order effects
If repeated, this pattern would make access to capable model weights increasingly conditional on operational assurance, narrowing the difference between open distribution as a product strategy and governed deployment.
The case reinforces a broader tension: once weights are released, developers have less ability to revise access controls after the fact, so safety decisions may move earlier and become more consequential in model-release cycles.
The trend: Frontier AI providers are treating the distribution of model weights as a governed deployment decision, with safety assurance increasingly setting the pace of release.
It's wild how OpenAI went from shipping massive transformative things seemingly weekly, to being unable to hit a single deadline. This smacks of a company in trouble. [embedded post]
we planned to launch our open-weight model next week. we are delaying it; we need time to run additional safety tests and review high-risk areas. we are not yet sure how long it will take us. while we trust the community will build great things with this model, once weights are
Hi, We're delaying the open weights model. Capability wise, we think the model is phenomenal — but our bar for an open source model is high and we think we need some more time to make sure we're releasing a model we're proud of along every axis. This one can't be deprecated!
POV: You're OpenAI > Top researchers just left for Meta > Open-source model delayed, (we all know it's because of Kimi K2) > Google scooped up Windsurf's CEO and co-founder and top researchers. > Grok-4 dethroned o3-pro > Your relationship with Microsoft is at its lowest point [i…
“What do you mean @Kimi_Moonshot smoked our open source model in benchmarks?” “Sir that's the reality sir, we won't have the best open source model” “I don't care, you peasants better get back to the drawing board, we are NOT GETTING HUMILIATED like that” *gulps* “but we
@ai_for_success I think it's Kimi K2. OpenAI seem adamant to be launching the SOTA open source model. Kimi K2 maybe kinda ruined that (not sure cuz it's highly inefficient, while OpenAI's was meant to be light, fast and best value for money). Anyway, it's gonna be a W for open so…
I criticize OpenAI for a lot of things + don't think people should take AI company claims at face value, but also, taking time to evaluate the safety risks for an open weight model is a real thing, y'all... If you think there are no risks to this stuff you aren't paying attention
100% confirmation that the OpenAI open-source model release was delayed because of Kimi-K2 translation: our model sucks, gets badly beaten by Kimi-K2, need to train a better one [image]
what is this supposed to even mean? i thought part of deciding to release an open-weights model is accepting it cannot be “safe” at more than a surface level. are they doing some weapons-grade lobotomy on it? “not sure how long it will take us” = back to the drawing board?
sorry but i'd bet money that he's only saying this because he really, really doesn't want you to realize that Kimi K2 exists now (and is the new king of open weights, by a disgusting margin)
OpenAI: We're delaying our OpenSource model because it's still a bit unsafe xAI: We're temporarily shutting down Grok because it's now MechaHitler, we hope this doesn't happen with Grok-4 but we can't guarantee it
Excuse our skepticism. On Thursday's DB Live, I asked @ClementDelangue from @huggingface if he believed Altman would really release an open source model “Is that real? Who knows.” I guess not. [video]
I still think they shouldn't release an open-weight model (proliferation risk is far too high), but, credit where it's due, they're taking longer to do at least some testing. (And, also, they're not calling it “open source”, thankfully.)
I'm proud to work with people who care about getting this stuff right. And when we get this out the door I have confidence it's going to be incredible. Open weight models are important for broad benefits and for individual freedom.
imagine being openAI right now in 14 days Meta gutted 10+ of your best AI researchers then elon launches Grok 4, beating your best model then google sweeps in and takes the best people from your Windsurf acquisition then you announce you're delaying your new open source
OpenAI finds itself in a dilemma. It and Sam really want to be the main character in AI every day, and will likely not be satisfied by releasing a nothing burger model after Google and many startups (👋 Kimi) releasing crazy-performant open models. But if they release a better