OpenAI Researcher Says GPT-5.6 is Better at AI Research Than Most Human Interns

I’m reporting from Seoul, where thousands of AI researchers from around the world have gathered for this year’s International Conference on Machine Learning. One of the most popular spots at the conference is OpenAI’s booth, which has been consistently encircled by a line of young AI PhDs.

They’re waiting for the chance to talk to OpenAI researchers and recruiters or try their hand at an arcade-style claw machine whose prizes include Codex-themed Rubrik’s Cubes and fidget spinners. OpenAI had potentially bad news for those PhDs, however—human internships are likely to be in short supply at the company.

Senior OpenAI researcher Noam Brown told me he would choose the company’s latest announced model, GPT-5.6, over a human research intern for most tasks! He was responding to my question about whether the company is making progress toward an automated, AI-powered research intern. CEO Sam Altman said in October last year he believed the company would have such an AI by September this year.