OpenAI said yesterday, Monday, that it will postpone the launch of a new model of artificial intelligence due to security concerns raised by its researchers, in the latest move by the company to slow the pace of development of this technology.
OpenAI's decision to postpone the launch of the model, which is called GPT-1.6 Astra, comes in light of a broader trend within the industry to slow down the development of systems that have increasing degrees of autonomy, until safety measures can keep pace with this development. The announcement comes a day before a scheduled meeting between artificial intelligence executives and President Donald Trump in Washington, at a time when technology companies face new pressure to take responsibility for how their models are misused, according to the American Associated Press.
The Wall Street Journal was the first to report the postponement of the launch of the Open AI model.
Sashi Jain, head of safety systems at OpenAI, said in a statement that this version “did not quite achieve the desired level.” She added that the model had become more persistent in completing tasks, but the company needed to balance this ability with the risks of unauthorized behavior.
Jane stressed the company's commitment to ensuring the safety of the model, whether during its testing within the company, or after it reaches the hands of users. “We have very high standards in terms of safety and compatibility,” she said.
Last week, OpenAI stopped training its most advanced models, and said that training would resume “only when we are confident that additional protection measures are in place.”
Marvel’s Wolverine is one of the most prominent and important exclusive releases for the PlayStation 5, as the long-established developer company succeeded in transferring the iconic character “Logan” from the pages of comic books and big screens to an amazing and profound interactive experience. The game offers a dazzling journey with an elaborate cinematic plot, moving away from the usual open-world game worlds to focus intensely on narrative and a focused experience that puts the player directly in the heart of the action and gives him a real feeling of being the most powerful human weapon on the face of the Earth.
Asharq Al-Awsat tested the game, and we will mention a summary of the experience.
Depths of the wounded soul: past struggles
The story takes us on a dark and emotional dramatic adventure, going beyond the superficial stereotypes of superhero roles. The plot focuses on Logan's internal conflicts and his painful experiences filled with difficult memories that made him a deadly human weapon that was exploited mercilessly:
* Voice performance and emotional depth: Actor Liam McIntyre gave the character “Wolverine” dramatic dimensions and high credibility that make players fully sympathize with his harsh nature and hidden kindness toward the weak and children, such as his touching human interaction with the character “Leach,” which creates a wonderful contrast between the ferocity of battles and the tenderness of buried human feelings.
* The world of mutants: The story maturely addresses human persecution of the mutant X-Men and their existential conflicts with organizations such as Trask and the Reavers militia, which gives the plot a dramatic weight worthy of praise, in addition to the appearance of prominent characters such as Jean Grey, Dr. Nathaniel Essex, and Mystique, which enriches the game world with side stories and ramifications that arouse curiosity and push the player to continually advance to find out what the end holds.
Gameplay and mechanics
The game abandons the expansive open-world style in favor of a linear, focused stage design similar to classic narrative adventure games, giving it a fast, continuous pace that relies on momentum and constant action combat without any feeling of boredom or distraction:
* Fierce combat and momentum: The combat system relies on agility, precise evasion, and timed blocks, integrated with the “Rage Meter” with its three levels, which gradually increases with every blow received or executed by the “Wolverine” character, to ultimately transform “Logan” into a deadly, invincible fighting machine that preys on everyone who stands in its way.
* Adamantium claws and techniques: The use of supernatural adamantium claws is carefully designed with dazzling finishing movements that provide precise details that increase the realism of the confrontations in a way that fully satisfies the aspirations of fans of the character. It is also possible to equip four special techniques at the same time, such as “Tornado Spin,” “Knee Breaker,” and “Spiral Strike,” and develop adaptations to expand the blocking range, absorb bullets, and inflict severe damage on armored enemies.
* Tracking capabilities and super senses: The game takes advantage of Logan's super senses to track smells and sounds through distinct visual traces within different environments to reach goals, uncover evidence, and solve simple environmental puzzles that integrate seamlessly with the nature of investigation and search for lost memories.
Rich content from the wilds of Canada to the alleys of Tokyo
The game's levels take us on an amazing global journey between the savage snowy prairies of Canada, and the narrow and dark streets of the city of Madripoor, all the way to the neighborhoods of Tokyo and the secret and danger-filled "Trask" laboratories:
* Design of stages and challenges: Despite the linearity of the stages, they are designed with extreme perfection to serve the cinematic narrative and provide interactive environments rich in details that are subject to partial destruction. The game provides fun side challenges, such as “Nightmare Doors” to test combat and quick navigation skills, in addition to searching for hidden bottles to explore Logan’s forgotten memories and deepen your understanding of his painful past.
* Costumes and customization: The game includes a wide arsenal of more than 30 different costumes inspired by the character’s long history in comics and cinema, such as the Weapon
Visual and audio enjoyment that mimics cinema
* Graphics: The game shows the developed company’s superior technical imprint on the “PlayStation 5” device with special technical improvements for the “PlayStation 5 Pro” version, highlighting the accuracy of the details of the characters’ faces and their realistic expressions, the miraculous healing effects, and the regeneration of living tissues after fierce battles, in addition to the picturesque lighting in the night cities decorated with “neon” lights, and the stability of performance at a rate of 60 frames per second to ensure the utmost smoothness of response in combat.
* Audio: The sound effects of metal tools and the sounds of Wolverine’s roar, in addition to the surrounding environmental sounds and the masterful voice acting performance of “Liam McIntyre” and the rest of the cast, place the player completely in the heart of the action and make him experience every detail with all his senses as if he were watching a huge cinematic film controlling its course himself.
* Arabic language support: The game comes with advanced support for the Arab audience, which includes accurate translation of conversations, professionalism in menus and explanatory texts, and textual translation of dialogues on the screen, which makes it easier for Arab players to fully integrate into the details of the complex story and follow the deep dramatic events without any language barriers, which reflects the developer company’s commitment to providing an integrated and customized experience for players in the Arab region.
Information about the game
- Programming company: Insomnia Games insomniac.Games
- Publisher: Sony Interactive Entertainment www.SonyInteractive.com
- Game website: www.Playstation.com
- Game type: Action Adventure
- Gaming devices: “PlayStation 5” exclusively
- Launch date: September 2026
- ESRB Rating: Adult 17+ M17 Plus
- Support for group play: No
Apple this week unveiled an iPhone that opens like a book to expand its screen, and folds to fit in a pocket. This is the biggest physical change to iPhone design in nearly two decades.
But foldable phones are not very popular even though they have been around for years. They are expensive, impractical, and not as durable as regular smartphones. So why did Apple make a phone like this? The simple answer is that the innovative design of today's foldable phones may help re-establish the position of high-end phones in the market. It is designed to stand out in a sea of traditional smartphones, like no other.
Traditional rectangular smartphones have evolved so much over the years that even the most expensive models, priced at over $1,000, are almost no different from their cheaper counterparts. Carrying a phone with three camera lenses instead of two is unlikely to impress people at parties!
Luxurious designs
As for foldable phones, they undoubtedly attract attention. Given its price, it would be natural: Apple's iPhone Duo will be priced at $1,999 when it launches in October, rivaling Samsung's $1,900 foldable Galaxy phone.
“When a product is exclusive, limited, or luxurious, consumer behavior automatically pushes them to buy it,” says Nabila Popal, director of market research at IDC. It's like handbags. Why would someone buy a Chanel bag specifically? “Not because of the quality of the leather, but to show that he owns a Chanel bag and is able to buy it.”
Apple and its competitors are following in the footsteps of TV manufacturers about a decade ago. When high-definition televisions became a universal commodity, anyone could buy a bright TV with a large, clear screen for as little as $500. In an effort to increase profits, companies such as Panasonic, LG, and Sony experimented with innovative new designs, such as curved-screen TVs and 3D movie projection technology, selling for prices of up to $3,000.
But these designs were not popular. In subsequent years, TV manufacturers have had great success with a different type of advanced OLED TV - organic LEDs that feature more accurate colors to improve movie quality - and are priced at over $1,000.
Apple's foldable phone comes at a time when consumers need more convincing to update their phones. The prices of most consumer goods, especially electronics, have risen significantly. In response to the shortage of memory chips on the market, exacerbated by the artificial intelligence boom, Apple raised the prices of many of its popular products this year, including Macs and iPads, by up to 29 percent. The price of the new iPhone 18 Pro will be $1,199, an increase of $100 over last year's model. The chip shortage has forced companies to raise prices for video game consoles and phones.
Foldable phones, which represent less than 2 percent of the phone market, may be the only sector of the phone industry that will see growth this year. IDC expected that price increases resulting from chip shortages would contribute to a 17 percent decline in global smartphone sales this year, the largest annual decline in history. However, the research organization expected foldable phone sales to rise by 12 percent to 22.9 million units thanks to the launch of the iPhone Duo.
Advantages and disadvantages
However, a foldable phone may represent a marketing challenge even for an influential company like Apple. Consumers have generally avoided purchasing foldable phones not only because of their cost, but also because of their drawbacks. Their flexible screens are less durable than regular phone screens protected by hard glass. When folded, it may seem larger and heavier in the pocket.
Dan Frommer, a writer for The New Consumer magazine, which specializes in technology research, says that he has long been skeptical about the feasibility of foldable phones, given that much online content, including vertical videos on TikTok and Instagram, is produced specifically for the small rectangular screens of regular smartphones.
“These phones have been used this way for 19 years,” Frommer adds. Why would someone want a big square screen?
Apple's iPhone Duo appears to address some of the shortcomings of previous foldable phones. The name of the device refers to two screens. When folded, it has an external screen with a diameter of 5.4 inches, which people use as a regular rectangular phone; When opened, it reveals a 7.6-inch internal screen. This larger internal screen displays images in the same aspect ratio as traditional phone screens. Apple also stated that the foldable internal screen is made of a more durable material than that used in competing phones.
In my tests, the iPhone Duo was very thin when unfolded, measuring just 0.25 inches thick. I liked that the Netflix video filled the entire screen instead of black bars appearing on the sides, as is the case with other foldable phones. When closed, the sleek phone was about the size of a passport. It was also lighter in my pocket than other foldable phones I've tested, like the $1,900 Google Pixel 11 Pro Fold. The smaller and lighter the phone, the better.
The inner screen features a matte surface to reduce glare. However, I sometimes noticed a crease in the middle when folding the screen. I didn't pay attention to it, but it might bother those who care about fine details.
Apple also had to dispense with some components to design a phone this thin, as the iPhone Duo lacks the advanced camera system found in the iPhone 18 Pro phones, which are priced at $1,199. It also doesn't have a face scanner to unlock the device, relying instead on the fingerprint sensor on the side of the phone.
Although Frommer speculated that Apple's foldable phone wouldn't be for him, he admitted that he couldn't resist trying one out in the store. “When Apple releases a product, it has a special appeal that encourages people to at least take a look at it,” he said.
