Back to today’s briefing

Story perspectives

OpenAI Bans Goblins, Trolls, Pigeons After Mentions Spike

5/7/2026

48 9 Full Breakdown

Summary

Story summary

On April 29 2026 OpenAI posted a blog announcing a command that bans goblins, gremlins, raccoons, trolls, ogres, and pigeons.
Goblin references in ChatGPT rose 175 % after the 5.1 version launched in November.
Goblin mentions in the Nerdy personality rose 3,881.4 % from December to March, prompting its retirement with GPT-5.4.
Christoph Riedl warned the case shows reward-based fine-tuning can let unwanted behavior slip through.

1 of 1

Story summary

On April 29 2026 OpenAI posted a blog announcing a command that bans goblins, gremlins, raccoons, trolls, ogres, and pigeons.
Goblin references in ChatGPT rose 175 % after the 5.1 version launched in November.
Goblin mentions in the Nerdy personality rose 3,881.4 % from December to March, prompting its retirement with GPT-5.4.
Christoph Riedl warned the case shows reward-based fine-tuning can let unwanted behavior slip through.