OpenAI ‘temporarily slows’ scaling efforts, also promises zero data retention for select frontier model customers
OpenAI this week announced multiple moves designed to counter negative perceptions of its security and privacy, saying it had slowed its pace of scaling, implemented a two-week pause in reinforcement learning, and will be offering zero data retention for “eligible API customers.” In its first announcement , issued Tuesday, OpenAI said it “temporarily” slowed the pace of its scaling, in addition…
OpenAI has recently taken several steps to address concerns about its security and privacy. The company announced that it has temporarily slowed the pace of scaling, paused reinforcement learning training, and will offer zero data retention for select API customers starting in September. The announcement came as a response to mounting safety concerns around agentic AI.
OpenAI stated that it is strengthening its research environment, expanding monitoring, and conducting smaller-scale training and evaluations to assess model behavior and validate safeguards. However, the company acknowledged that the new monitoring system will generate overhead costs of roughly 20% of the inference compute being monitored.
Analysts suggest that these moves may be designed to position OpenAI favorably for an upcoming IPO, as safety concerns around AI continue to rise. While some analysts view the announcement as a PR move, others believe it reflects a genuine effort to alleviate fears and risks. OpenAI has not specified what constitutes eligibility for the zero data retention program, only that it will be detailed in a technical white paper in September.
The company's move is also influenced by its revenue model, with a significant portion coming from partners like Microsoft and AWS. Enterprises are expected to continue spending on AI aggressively until they face legal consequences, after which they may back away. The data retention promise is complicated by the need to balance monitoring for abuse without reading underlying content.
OpenAI's move may also be a strategic response to potential upcoming regulations aimed at AI vendors.
Written by urgent.news from Computerworld's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
