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High-level information about the private work of students and staff using ChatGPT Edu at several universities can be viewed by thousands of colleagues across their institutions due to a misunderstanding of what is being shared, according to a University of Oxford researcher who identified the issue. The problem affects Codex Cloud Environments in ChatGPT Edu and exposes the names and some metadata associated with the public and private GitHub repositories that users within a university have connected to their ChatGPT Edu accounts. No private code or repository data was exposed to unauthorized users. Nevertheless, the metadata that is visible can still reveal a meaningful picture of users activity. Anyone at the university, or a large number of people at leastincluding mecan see a number of projects [people have] been working on with ChatGPT, says Luc Rocher, an associate professor at the University of Oxford, who identified the issue and raised it with both the University of Oxford and OpenAI through responsible disclosure. He later approached Fast Company after what he felt was an inadequate response from both. In addition to the projects, Rocher says he could see how many times users interacted with ChatGPT on a given project and when those conversations began. From that metadata, Rocher was able to piece together that an Oxford student was working on an article for submission using OpenAIs toolssomething the student confirmed when Rocher approached them. In terms of the width of different people that can access each others behavioural data, that is quite worrying, says a separate University of Oxford researcher, who was granted anonymity by Fast Company to speak freely about their employer. However, the researcher acknowledges that the data exposure is internal and, while broad, limited in depth. I suspect that might be why the data protection team havent reacted as quickly as if it was a public-facing thing. However, the researcher calls the institutions lack of response nave. They add: There are reasons for researchers to have private repositories. The situation echoes a similar issue previously reported by Fast Company, in which users of OpenAIs standard ChatGPT product were not clearly informed that sharing their conversations could allow those chats to be indexed by search engines. The company initially denied the problem, then removed the feature after backlash. It seems to me it’s a question of a bad default, says Rocher, where users arent made immediately and obviously clear what theyre opting into. An OpenAI spokesperson tells Fast Company: Users are in full control of how their environments are shared. Repository names can be visible to other members of the same organisation only if chosen to be by the workspace owner, and repository contents remain secure. The spokesperson adds: We have spoken with the customer directly about this question and always welcome their feedback. The University of Oxford declined to comment on the record. Fast Company understands Rocher has identified other universitiesincluding at least one in the Middle Eastaffected by the same issue. I think this is something universities need to be made aware of, says Rocher. The situation highlights a broader tension around how AI products are being deployed, experts say. While it is not clear how much data is exposed by default by OpenAI, it is clear that the way that these systems are integrated is making information visible to both the firm and across the organisation that was not visible before, says Michael Veale, professor of technology law and policy at University College London. Veale says that dynamic reflects how AI systems operate. It is a part of a broader trend of AI tools being integrated without accounting for the ways they transform who can see what information, and the difficulty, or even impossibility, of users reasoning what is going on behind the scenes, he says. By definition, AI systems query external services faster than humans can. That mismatch between AI capabilities and human oversight creates risks. Humans already have enormous difficulty keeping up with understanding what information is going where at the best of times, says Veale. Making that faster and more ubiquitous is only going to make that harder, and increase opacity and vulnerability to breaches and attacks in the process.
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Drive an older Buick Regal? You may need to drive it to your nearest dealer. General Motors is recalling certain 2012 and 2013 Buick Regal models because of an issue with the rear suspension toe links that could increase the likelihood of a crash. The recall affects 17,050 Buick passenger cars that were sold or registered in 22 high corrosion states and Washington, D.C., according to the recall notice filed with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. The recall, submitted on Tuesday, expands on two others that the Detroit-based automaker has filed since late February related to the same issue. Only about 1% of the 17,000-plus vehicles identified may have a defect, which was caused by the Chinese supplier failing to properly apply corrosion protection which could eventually cause the toe link to thin and ultimately fracture. GM noted in the latest recall notice that its not aware of any accidents or injuries that have been associated with its investigation. Notification letters are expected to be mailed to affected car owners in mid-April. The Buick Regal marked the end of an era for the automaker: In 2020, GM discontinued making this model of passenger car amid slumping sales, leaving the brand to focus exclusively on SUVs. RECALL DETAILS As indicated, GMs recall is very limited in scope and only affects 2012 and 2013 model year Buick Regal vehicles. The automaker identified 4,751 affected 2012 Buick Regals and 12,299 affected 2013 Buick Regals, encompassing both the Turbo and GS trim-level vehicles for both model years. Because of the risk of corrosion, GM has identified vehicles that were ever registered in the following states: Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, D.C., West Virginia, or Wisconsin. If you drive one of the affected Buick Regal models, you can take your car to a dealer, which will replace the rear suspension toe link and adjuster fasteners free of charge.
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AI promises massive productivity gainsthat is if employees are willing to use it and can figure out how to integrate it into their workflows. In the rush to reap the benefits of AI, KPMG one of the “big four” accounting firms, headquartered in London, just launched a new incentive program for its US advisory division. Per a new Business Insider report, the program, called “AI Spark Innovation”, is offering cash prizes for consultants who excel in AI innovation. The payouts will be hefty. US Vice Chair Rob Fisher told BI that the “outsize” cash awards will be “materially larger than an end-of-year compensation award.” Fisher continued, Its really intended to be a pretty exciting amount of money, especially for our more junior staff, because theyre fixed dollar amounts. The upside relative to salary is more for our less tenured folks. The goal of KPMG’s cash awards isn’t just to increase productivity, however. The program incentivizes employees to change the way they think about their success and focus on innovation rather than billable hours. Fisher said the cash awards will be offered for those who can “show off the incredible thing they’ve done with AI”, and those ideas should aim to inspire adoptable change throughout the company. Fisher added, Were trying to figure out how we get all that grassroots innovation unlocked by trying to bring some more carrots forward to our folks. While KPMG’s cash awards announcement feels like a new wave of incentivizing AI integration, companies have already been ramping up their efforts to get employees excited about using the technology more broadly. According to a 2025 Lightcast study, job postings that mentioned at least one AI skill offered salaries of 28% higher than those that did not mention any. For jobs that mentioned two AI skills, pay was 43% higher. Despite the salary gains that AI offers, integrating it into a daily work routine is still a hard sell for some employees. According to one 2025 report from enterprise technology services firm Kyndryl, 45% of CEOs say their employees are actively resistant to the technology. From that lens, KPMG’s incentive plan makes sense. In fact, Akhil Verghese, founder and CEO of AI engineering firm Krazimo, tells Fast Company it’s “a brilliant move” explaining that it’s essential for leaders who want to get their employees to embrace AI to get their input on ideas. “It makes your employees part of your company’s AI adoption journey,” the CEO explains. Likewise, Verghese says the push for new ideas can help employees begin to utilize the technology while also helping to dispel some fear around AI. “Many early stage AI deployments fail because the technology is still nascent” and that the “most valuable part” about moving towards integration is “less about the results and more about building an AI-literate employee pool.” From that lens, KPMG is being innovative, and Verghese believes that other companies will follow suit “if they’re smart.” He adds that doing so only “encourages experimentation” and “builds the kind of workforce that will be incredibly valuable for the future.”
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