> ...reviewed by independent researchers...
Why would a company with more capital than God bring in three randos if there was any chance evidence of their culpability could be found?
That entire thing reads like a very controlled PR stunt, and I do not believe any further conclusions can be drawn from it.
The "independent" METR that is composed by... Checks notes... Previously employees from the top labs.
>Our subjective impressions are likely colored by analysis agents’ biases. Throughout this report, we describe a number of anecdotes of agent behavior that were compiled and summarized by analysis agents, where we were not able to read the transcript deeply enough to manually verify what occurred. We found that GPT-5.6 Sol would often uncritically adopt the perspective of the agent in the transcript it was reviewing
A proper analysis would include this and MUCH more technical detail so that other AI researchers could actually understand the setup and how safe it was in principle.
The METR report itself appears to be screaming this at the reader through subtext. They played the only part they could, but did it with a nod and a wink; "Yeah, we know. Also know, yeah. Uh, yep."
I happen to agree with the article's conclusion that what is needed is true, unfettered independent investigation through perhaps a lawsuit or government action.