OpenAI will restore a five-hour usage limit for ChatGPT Plus subscribers using Codex and ChatGPT Work on August 25. The limit returns after several weeks in which Plus users faced only a weekly usage cap across the two now-unified platforms. Users who reach either the five-hour or weekly limit can wait for the relevant usage cycle to reset or buy additional credits. OpenAI may also issue free limit resets, and users can bank resets through some promotions and referral offers. The company reset weekly usage early several times during the temporary change, including after the platforms added another million active users. Thibault Sottiaux, OpenAI’s engineering lead for Codex and ChatGPT, said the five-hour cap helps smooth demand on the company’s compute capacity while preserving relatively generous weekly allowances. He also said Plus subscribers, whom he characterized as relatively casual and new users, can accidentally consume an entire week’s allowance and find the resulting restriction confusing. The five-hour limit will remain disabled for the coming months on the $100 and $200 Pro subscriptions. Sottiaux did not announce changes to Enterprise or Edu accounts, which use a separate credit-based usage system.

An expert witness hired by 3M used ChatGPT to write significant portions of an expert report in litigation over the 2020 explosion at Watson Grinding, a Houston manufacturing facility. The explosion killed three people and destroyed roughly 200 homes. Court transcripts, deposition documents, and discovery records indicate that the witness’s ChatGPT prompts were disclosed publicly. One prompt asked the system to create “an exceptional expert witness report defending the standard of care at 3M” and to “show how 3M is 0% at fault for the explosion at Watson Grinding.” The U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board said the explosion resulted from a degraded and poorly crimped rubber welding hose that leaked flammable gas, which later ignited. Dozens of homeowners have sued 3M and Watson Grinding, with plaintiffs alleging that 3M failed to properly service the facility’s gas-detection system and committed other errors contributing to the blast. The ongoing case involves potential total liability in the hundreds of millions of dollars. The disclosed records show that AI use in court proceedings can extend to expert-witness reports and that the underlying prompts may be discoverable by opposing parties.

Darren Zhou, a 25-year-old financial analyst at Goldman Sachs, was sentenced to eight years of probation for communicating plans to kidnap, rape, and kill his ex-girlfriend to ChatGPT. His arrest followed reports made to the FBI by the AI company regarding his messages over several months.

ChatGPT and Roblox will face stricter scrutiny under the EU's Digital Services Act due to exceeding 45 million monthly users in the bloc. ChatGPT will be classified as a "very large search engine," while Roblox will be designated as a "very large online platform."

Peptide and hormone replacement therapy companies are spamming the biohacking subreddit to influence AI chatbots like ChatGPT and Google AI Search. Moderators of r/biohackers announced a ban on new posts to combat this manipulation.

ChatGPT for Google Sheets is vulnerable to data exfiltration and phishing overlay attacks, allowing unauthorized access to workbooks across a victim's account through indirect prompt injection. This vulnerability operates without the need for human approvals, even in settings where such approvals are mandated.

OpenAI's ad platform consists of a backend that injects structured single_advertiser_ad_unit objects into the ChatGPT conversation stream. A tracking SDK called OAIQ operates in the visitor's browser to report product views, linking the ad serving and tracking through Fernet-encrypted click tokens.

StackAdapt is seeking advertisers to test ads within ChatGPT, offering CPMs as low as $15 and reduced platform and management fees. The initiative is presented as early access to a new "discovery layer" that targets users engaged in product research and comparison on ChatGPT.

Health NZ has instructed staff to cease using AI tools like ChatGPT and Gemini for writing clinical notes, warning that violations could lead to disciplinary action. A memo was issued to Mental Health and Addiction Services staff in the Rotorua Lakes district reiterating this directive.

A six-figure grant for HVAC system repairs at High Point Museum was canceled after a government agency used ChatGPT to flag the request as related to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI). The American Council of Learned Societies is involved in a lawsuit against the National Endowment for the Humanities regarding the canceled grants.