OpenAI opened its new MB0 research building to customers previewing Astra, its next flagship AI model, even as protesters demanding an end to the 'AI race' gathered outside. CEO Sam Altman, fresh from briefing Washington officials on Astra's capabilities, told visitors the model could enable 'persistent agents' and predicted it would be the first to 'invent new things in a way that matters.'
The showcase came amid a rough stretch for the company: Anthropic has overtaken it in revenue and valuation, is reportedly eyeing an IPO as soon as September, and has drawn away OpenAI talent alongside Meta's poaching spree. OpenAI has also lost a string of executives, including its former COO and a chief revenue officer who departed after eight months, while fending off an Apple trade-secret lawsuit and litigation from Elon Musk over its nonprofit origins.
The company is additionally defending at least a dozen California product-liability suits and federal cases alleging harm, part of what the piece frames as an erosion of public trust in both OpenAI and Altman personally.
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