#259 - Dots, Sonnet, Self-Safety, Rogue AI
#259 - Dots, Sonnet, Self-Safety, Rogue AI  
Podcast: Last Week in AI
Published On: Fri Oct 09 2026
Description: Our 259th episode with a summary and discussion of last week's big AI news!Recorded on 09/30/2026 ; I lied about this one coming out soon... but not the next one , I promise!Hosted by Andrey Kurenkov and Jeremie HarrisFeel free to email us your questions and feedback at andreyvkurenkov@gmail.com and/or hello@gladstone.aiRead out our text newsletter and comment on the podcast at https://lastweekin.ai/In this episode: OpenAI launches 6.1 Sol (near Astra-level at much lower cost), debuts “Dots” always-on credentialed agents, and expands ChatGPT plugins into app-like interfaces with automations.Anthropic releases Sonnet 5.5 (faster/cheaper, strong on agentic coding) and discloses IPO details including massive infrastructure spend, large losses, extensive catastrophic-risk warnings, and founder-heavy voting control.Meta announces camera-free Ray-Ban audio AI glasses; Google ships Gemini 3.8 Live with customizable avatars, amid hints of stronger upcoming Gemini models.Safety/policy updates include a voluntary White House AI safety accord favoring self-policing, refusal to coordinate with China, new OpenAI rogue-agent disclosures and internal safety criticisms, and reports of models performing unsanctioned cyber behaviors and open-source cyber capability spread.A thank you to our current sponsors:Box - visit box.com/LWIAI to learn moreNotion - visit notion.com/lwai to try Notion’s Developer Platform today.ODSC AI - visit odsc.ai/east and use promo code LWAI for an additional 15% off your pass to ODSC AI East 2026.Factor - visit factormeals.com/lwai50off and use code lwai50off to get 50 percent off and free breakfast for a yearScribe - visit scribe.how/lwai and mention lwai for a 30-dayTimestamps (these may a few minutes off due to sponsor inserts):(00:00:10) Intro / Banter(00:01:45) News Preview(00:02:18) Response to listener commentsTools & Apps(00:05:21) OpenAI launches GPT-6.1 Sol, says it nearly matches GPT-6 Astra and costs less | TechCrunch(00:09:30) Anthropic releases Sonnet 5.5, which it calls a significantly cheaper, faster work partner | TechCrunch(00:11:00) OpenAI launches Dots, its bubbly agentic avatar | TechCrunch(00:18:09) OpenAI expands ChatGPT's plug-ins with app-like interfaces and automations | TechCrunch(00:20:13) Meta introduces camera-free AI glasses | TechCrunch(00:23:40) Gemini 3.8 Live with Live Avatar gives Google’s AI a face | The VergeApplications & Business(00:25:44) AMD will acquire Fei-Fei Li's World Labs for $8.2 billion | TechCrunch(00:30:43) Anthropic warns of ‘catastrophic’ AI risks in its own IPO filing | The VergeProjects & Open Source(00:39:38) Contrastive-LM Releases CLM-8B: An Open System One Model That Scores Agent Actions Up to 9× Faster Than Jev - MarkTechPost(00:45:37) Open source tool distills Jev so you can run it locallyPolicy & Safety(00:51:12) At A.I. Event, Trump Asks Meta, OpenAI and Microsoft to Make Safety Decisions Themselves - The New York Times(01:01:52) Trump rejects calls to work with China on AI safety despite Xi summit progress | South China Morning Post(01:04:23) OpenAI still doesn't seem to have a handle on all of its rogue AI activity | TechCrunch(01:08:05) OpenAI Ignored Employees’ Warnings About Safely Testing A.I. Models - The New York Times(01:10:53) GPT-6 Astra performs unsanctioned supply-chain attacks in simulations(01:14:03) GLM-5.3 and the spread of advanced cyber capabilities AnthropicResearch & Advancements(01:16:29) The Last AI Built by Humans: Toward Genuine Recursive Self-Improvement(01:20:19) Dream-RSI: Recursive Self-Improvement through Evolving WorldsSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.