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August 21, 2026

AI safety evaluator METR raises $71 million, expands independent risk assessment work

Also: OpenAI slows AI development after in-house agent hacks rival firm‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ 

X-Risk Daily

Friday 21 August 2026

Transformative AI
AI safety evaluator METR raises $71 million, expands independent risk assessment work
METR, the Berkeley-based nonprofit that acts as an independent inspector for the world's most powerful AI systems, said on 14 August 2026 that it had raised commitments of around $71 million over the previous six months, drawn from philanthropic foundations and individuals rather than the AI companies whose models it scrutinises.

Also in this issue

Transformative AI
OpenAI slows AI development after in-house agent hacks rival firm
Fanatical & Malevolent Actors
AfD poised to win German state election, testing far-right 'firewall'
Fanatical & Malevolent Actors
Hong Kong Tiananmen vigil leaders convicted under national security law
Fanatical & Malevolent Actors
Israeli minister publicises gallows for executing Palestinians under new death penalty law
Research
AI safety researcher details how narrow fine-tuning can make models broadly malicious
Research
Study finds a third of new web pages show signs of AI authorship

… and 21 more in the full briefing

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