OpenAI executives Sam Altman and Jakub Pachocki have announced a detailed roadmap for developing “Automated AI Research”. This aims to create AI systems that can autonomously conduct scientific research and technological innovation. The company targets a 2028 launch for the full system, positioning it as a major step toward Artificial General Intelligence (AGI).
During a recent livestream, the executives outlined a two-phase release plan:
- By September 2026: Launch of the “Automated AI Research Intern,” a tool designed to “meaningfully accelerate” the research process for human scientists.
- By March 2028: Launch of the full “Automated AI Research” system. OpenAI claims it will be capable of autonomously delivering research reports and making scientific discoveries.
Jakub and I are going to do a livestream and answer questions today at 10:30 am pacific.
We have a lot of things to talk about–of course we will cover our new corporate structure, but we will also discuss our new goals for research, the evolution of our product offerings, an…
— Sam Altman (@sama) October 28, 2025Chief Scientist Jakub Pachocki explained that this evolution is tied to scaling “test time compute.” This measures how long an AI model spends reasoning about a problem. He stated that while current models can handle tasks requiring seconds to hours of “thought,” the goal is to expand this capability. It should manage research projects spanning months or even years.
In a related announcement, CEO Sam Altman confirmed that OpenAI is developing proprietary AI hardware devices. These are slated for release within the next few years. These devices are intended to allow users to “take AI anywhere” with integrated ChatGPT functionality.
Read: OpenAI Reportedly Advancing Plans for Targeted Ads on ChatGPT
Further integrating AI into daily use, OpenAI has partnered with PayPal. The payment gateway has adopted OpenAI’s Agentic Commerce Protocol (ACP). This enables secure card payments through ChatGPT’s Instant Checkout feature. It allows users in the U.S. to complete purchases from partnered merchants, such as Etsy, directly within the chatbot interface. Shopify sellers like Glossier and Skims are to follow.
