Gary Marcus clashes with OpenAI researcher over CoT monitoring and unmonitorability race

GaryMarcus · x · 2026-09-02

Gary Marcus pressed an OpenAI researcher (@merettm) to clarify which reporting was "confused," in a debate over chain-of-thought monitoring. The researcher argues current frontier models — including Astra — have computation graphs within 2x of GPT-4's depth, and that OpenAI has preserved and used CoT monitoring since its first reasoning models, as it offers a window into model alignment. The exchange centers on whether the industry is racing toward a point where CoT monitoring can no longer audit alignment.

Related event: OpenAI Researchers Push Back on 'Neuralese' Fears, Saying Frontier Models Remain Monitorable(14 posts)→

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