OpenAI Got Hacked By... AI

Security researchers used Claude to hack into OpenAI's private code repository through a bug bounty program, OpenAI launched Astra for Law for select firms, Anthropic redesigned Claude projects to run parallel agent threads, and opened a Bay Area biology lab.

• Security researchers in an OpenAI bug bounty program hacked OpenAI, accessing its "monorepo" on GitHub, using a cybersecurity version of Opus 4.8 and Opus 5 (wsj.com/tech/ai/hackers-used-anthropics-claude…) (The Wall Street Journal)

• OpenAI launches Astra for Law, combining GPT-6 Astra with a legal search index and instructions for legal analysis and writing, initially for select law firms (openai.com/index/astra-for-law) (OpenAI)

• SiliconANGLE reports Astra for Law passed 54% of legal-research benchmark questions versus 38.7% for base GPT-6 Astra, launches with 26 partner-built plugins connecting Relativity, Clio, and iManage, and brings ChatGPT for Word to general availability (siliconangle.com/2026/09/17/openai-launches-as…) (SiliconANGLE)

• Anthropic redesigns Claude projects, letting users describe work in one conversation and have Claude manage it across parallel threads, starting in Claude Code (claude.com/blog/projects-redesigned) (Anthropic)

• The Verge reports each project thread runs as its own Claude Code cloud session on a separate repo branch, with a coordinator resolving overlapping work as merge conflicts, and beta access starting today for select Claude Pro and Max subscribers (theverge.com/ai-artificial-intelligence/997134…) (The Verge)

• Anthropic Life Sciences Head Eric Kauderer-Abrams says the AI company set up a Bay Area wet lab for physical biology work, as it pushes into AI disease research (reuters.com/world/anthropic-quietly-sets-up-bi…) (Reuters)

Longreads

• Theoretical computer scientist Scott Aaronson says he's heard rumors that AI labs are sitting on major unpublished math solutions, and describes a mathematics community consumed by anxious conversation about the "AI tsunami" after the hostile response to a recent Navier-Stokes proof (scottaaronson.blog/?p=10062) (Shtetl-Optimized)

• The FT reports the AI boom is fueling a resurgence in VC bets on "moonshot" sectors like nuclear fusion and brain-computer interfaces, as Dealroom data shows non-AI deep-tech funding has topped $150B since the start of 2024 (ft.com/content/0c440134-686f-4b55-ab35-2afe4e6…) (Financial Times)

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