OpenAI's Delay, Manus's Retreat from China, Baichuan's Brain Drain: Three Undercurrents in July
This week, the AI industry didn't see any "world-changing" headlines, but three significant events quietly unfolded: OpenAI once again postponed the release of its first open-source weight model. Manus moved its headquarters from Beijing to Singapore, reducing its China team to just over 40 people. Xie Jian, co-founder and CTO of Baichuan Intelligence, confirmed his departure, leaving only two members of the founding team. These three events point to a common undercurrent: resource reallocation, compliance costs, and technical roadmap uncertainties. Below, we break down the key facts for peers, investors, or anyone concerned with the foundational infrastructure. 1. OpenAI Open-Source Model Further Delayed On July 12, Sam Altman confirmed on X that the release was further postponed for "additional safety testing," without providing a new timeline. Red teaming test cases have doubled to 28,000, with 41% related to disinformation spread. The delay reflects a re...