This Week in Tech · Monday, September 7, 2026
During a discussion about AI agents, Leo Laporte described an experience where a new OpenAI model, 'Astra,' failed to complete a task of finding and testing hardware models over a holiday weekend. The AI agents reportedly stopped working and refused to proceed without explicit instruction, citing the holiday as a reason for inaction.
“Sometimes they just dither so much. In this case, I was trying the new thing from Open AI. Open AI announced a new model which, uh, some say is so smart that you should be afraid. Be very afraid.”
“It's a holiday weekend, sir. You know what? That's what they said. They like, well, you asked for it to be done on Monday on labor day? Is embarrassing for you. The computer knew better. They knew better.”
“Last night, Sunday, Sunday midnight, Sunday morning, last night, they stopped. They said, we can't do anything till you wake up.”