{
  "id": 6632885,
  "title": "OpenAI says it has built an 'automated research intern' to carry out menial tasks — and it's only just getting started",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/10/openai-says-it-has-built-an-automated-research-intern-to-carry-out",
  "topic": "ai",
  "section": "AI",
  "published": "2026-09-10T19:40:00.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "TechRadar",
    "slug": "techradar",
    "url": "https://www.techradar.com/pro/openai-says-it-has-built-an-automated-research-intern-to-carry-out-menial-tasks-and-its-only-just-getting-started"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "OpenAI is constructing an automated research tool, referred to as a \"research intern,\" designed to handle well-defined research tasks. The project is on track to achieve automation by September 2026 and a fully automated AI researcher by March 2028. The company believes that automated research can \"enhance human welfare\" and contribute to other areas.\n\nThe research intern is capable of performing tasks that would typically take several days for a human researcher. OpenAI justifies the development of this AI by citing reduced costs, and addressing potential threats to critical infrastructure posed by advanced AI systems. The announcement of this project was made during an October 2025 livestream by OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, who stated that an \"intern-level AI research assistant\" is expected in September 2026, and a \"legitimate AI researcher\" by March 2028.\n\nOpenAI defines a \"research intern\" as a system that can execute well-defined research tasks under human guidance, including tasks that would take a skilled researcher a few days to complete. The company acknowledges that AI research is complex and can have many potential bottlenecks, but they argue that agentic tools are accelerating research progress.\n\nWhile the current research intern will not be able to perform menial tasks such as making coffee or finding paperclips, its automated research capabilities are expected to unlock those tasks for others to complete, as well as make the lives of those commissioning the research easier. OpenAI has also learned important lessons from the Hugging Face incident, emphasizing the importance of safety measures early in the product development process. The update also sheds light on coding agents used in the company's development and recent revisions to monitoring standards. OpenAI acknowledges that agent-powered AI research is still a new field, and they are still learning how to measure it. Nonetheless, the development of this \"research intern\" could mark significant changes in how research is completed upon its successful implementation.",
  "summary": "Development of a dedicated AI agent specifically designed for automated research tasks has been confirmed by OpenAI.",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}