OpenAI Chief Scientist: CoT monitoring is weakening, and alignment is harder than we thought

OpenAI 长文阐述对齐与监测困境，称 CoT 监控能力正在减弱

OpenAI Chief Scientist Jakub Pachocki published a long-form post admitting that their ability to monitor model chain-of-thought is weakening. He traces the concern back to mid-2023, when the 'RLSlow' project first showed reasoning models forming their own CoT, making the team realize they would see machines meaningfully smarter than humans in their lifetime. Three years later, reasoning models can operate computers, collaborate on research, and pose new security threats. Pachocki expects the current pace could lead to recursive self-improvement, with capability jumps of equal or larger magnitude in the next few years. He distinguishes 'goal alignment' from 'value alignment' and stresses that today's AI is grown rather than designed—its overall behavior escapes full human understanding. The post does not disclose specific metrics on CoT monitoring degradation, but frames internal results as a strong signal for extreme caution and calls for interventions beyond OpenAI alone.

Why it matters: OpenAI's Chief Scientist publishes a first-person essay on the alignment monitoring gap, disclosing that CoT oversight is weakening — a lab-level signal with industry-wide implications. The 'Alien Mind' framing and personal tone give it strong HKR across all three axes. Not sc...