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So, the AI labs that make the models doing the hacking are expanding their cyber protection offerings. This week, OpenAI announced an expansion of Daybreak, its cyber defense service which it launched earlier this year, not long after Anthropic released its cyber-focused model Mythos.

Daybreak is a service that bundles access to models, tools and workflows for defenders. The expansion includes access to a brand new cyber-focused model designed for defensive work.

OpenAI said Monday that Daybreak would now consist of two tiers: Blue and Red. Both of these tiers will allow approved customers access to OpenAI’s limited-access frontier cyber models. Frontier models — the most advanced available — have been a subject of controversy. The Trump administration previously sought to collaborate with AI companies on the roll out of such models, purportedly over safety concerns. Previously, OpenAI deployed significant guardrails to using these models, limiting what customers could do with them.

Blue, which appears to be the more basic of the two, offers a variety of cyber services, including incident response, malware analysis, and patch validation. OpenAI calls Blue its “recommended starting point for most defenders,” implying that it should be more than enough for most enterprises.

Red, on the other hand, offers a broader and potentially more dangerous toolkit. The company grants its users “purpose-trained cybersecurity models,” designed to carry out security testing and vulnerability research.

With Red also comes the new model, GPT‑5.6‑Cyber, which is only available at that tier. 5.6-Cyber is built off of GPT‑5.6 Sol, and offers enhanced capabilities for certain specialized cybersecurity tasks, the company said.

At the moment, GPT‑5.6‑Cyber is only being made available for “trusted customer partners,” including reportedly Accenture, IBM, Crowdstrike, Cloudflare, and others.

While the threats from AI agents are rapidly increasing, critics have also pointed out that they function as marketing opportunities for the AI labs. OpenAI is certainly marketing its upgraded Daybreak that way.

“The cybersecurity world is rapidly changing—threat actors will increasingly use AI to conduct cyberattacks at unprecedented speed and scale, including in fully autonomous ways,” the company said in a blog post. “As these capabilities spread, defenders have a narrowing window to prepare.” 

At the same time, enterprises remain interested in buying their protection from the AI labs who know the security risks best, because they know them first-hand.

When you purchase through links in our articles, we may earn a small commission. This doesn’t affect our editorial independence.

Lucas is a senior writer at TechCrunch, where he covers artificial intelligence, consumer tech, and startups. He previously covered AI and cybersecurity at Gizmodo. You can contact Lucas by emailing [email protected].

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Illfonic confirmed as much yesterday via its Halloween: The Game X account. "Despite every effort on our part, the Australian Classifications Board has denied Halloween: The Game a rating," it wrote.

"The denial was not based on the presence of the iconic slasher, Michael Myers, or the outstanding kills that can be performed in the game, but rather the presence of a controlled substance. Unfortunately, to our disappointment (and certainly yours) this means that we cannot sell the physical or digital product in both Australia and New Zealand."

Games with the presence of a controlled substance are allowed in Australia, but it depends how they're depicted. If the use of those substances is incentivized, that's a big no-no. And that's apparently what the classifications board has determined is happening here: according to a Bloody Disgusting report from March, citing horror influencer Slash 'N Cast, smoking weed as a survivor can temporarily let you see Michael Myers' "pings across the map." That's exactly the kind of thing the ratings system prevents.

I've reached out to Illfonic to get some clarity on this. I also asked if the studio might tweak the system—or replace the marijuana asset—for the Australian market. Studios like Bethesda and Obsidian have resorted to the latter in the past, while others, like Devolver, have refused: Hotline Miami 2 is still unavailable in Australia.

I've also reached out to the Classification Board itself. I can't find the particular RC listing for Halloween on its website, though a separate rating for its pre-order content received an automated R18+ rating in July.

Not that I'm questioning Illfonic's statement: Listings for the game have disappeared from all major Australian retail outlets including EB Games and JB Hi-Fi. The landing page is now inaccessible on the PlayStation Store. True to form, Steam hasn't yet acted on the ban, but it's probably only a matter of time.

Keep up to date with the most important stories and the best deals, as picked by the PC Gamer team.

Shaun Prescott is the Australian editor of PC Gamer. With over ten years experience covering the games industry, his work has appeared on GamesRadar+, TechRadar, The Guardian, PLAY Magazine, the Sydney Morning Herald, and more. Specific interests include indie games, obscure Metroidvanias, speedrunning, experimental games and FPSs. He thinks Lulu by Metallica and Lou Reed is an all-time classic that will receive its due critical reappraisal one day. %!s()

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Hi, this is Evelyn, writing to you from Beijing. Welcome to the latest edition of The China Connection — a snapshot of what I'm seeing and hearing from local businesses.

China doesn't have any 70mm Imax screens for "The Odyssey," but that hasn't stopped fans from snapping up tickets for premium screenings. Several showings were nearly sold out this weekend, and at the Beijing theater I visited Sunday, there was a rare line to get in. But is Hollywood doing enough?

The big story

America's movie stars are back in China.

From Timothee Chalamet selling tofu in Chengdu to Tom Holland and Zendaya enjoying sheep-themed matcha in Shanghai, Hollywood is actively courting a massive market that's tightly controlled by Beijing.

Some of it's paying off. "Spider-Man: Brand New Day" has already broken into the 10 highest-grossing movies in China this year, according to ticketing site Maoyan. As for "The Odyssey," it has already made more than $7 million in China, in just two weekends of limited screenings ahead of its official Aug. 14 release.

Adding attention was an unconventional interview that went viral. Among a few local media appearances, director Christopher Nolan spoke with Yiyang Zhuge, a Boston College doctoral candidate who also hosts her own podcast. Their philosophical conversation has racked up more than 1 million views on streaming site Bilibili, and millions more on X.

Zhuge claims someone from Universal reached out several weeks earlier to set up the post-premiere interview in Beijing. It contrasts with the studio's reported focus on traditional media in the U.S. A representative for Universal did not respond to a request for comment.

The increased engagement comes as U.S.-China tensions have thawed this year.

In the first six months, Imax screened 14 Hollywood films in mainland China, up from just two during the same period last year, filing data indicated.

Not all the movies have done well. "Marty Supreme" and "Devil Wears Prada 2" both sent their leads to China but their box office struggled. "Toy Story 5" had only modest success.

"The box office has picked up dramatically in China in recent weeks," Imax CEO Richard Gelfond said on an earnings call in late July, according to a FactSet transcript. He anticipates further improvement with upcoming films "Dune: Part Three" and "Avengers: Doomsday."

The company also expects to benefit from popular Chinese series due to see new films released early next year, such as sci-fi title "The Wandering Earth."

But it's hard to shake off bigger changes in how consumers spend. Industry figures show China's box office plunged 40% in the first half of the year.

The content flow is also no longer one-way. Two of China's three highest-grossing films domestically this year have rolled out to other parts of Asia and abroad, helped by Alibaba's Damai Entertainment.

Their overseas box office results are modest so far. But in a reminder of the Chinese studios' potential, it was just last year that Chinese animated movie "Ne Zha 2" beat Pixar's "Inside Out 2" as the top-grossing animated film worldwide, albeit largely at home.

New formats and models

Some companies in China are going further to upend entertainment.

There's the Chinese-led micro-drama trend that's overtaken Netflix in the U.S. on mobile, according to Omdia. Then there's the rise of immersive virtual reality.

As artificial intelligence enables studios to create VR content more cheaply and quickly, consumers can experience new productions more frequently, creating "the next generation of cinema," Ethan Tang, CEO of Metavision International, told me in Chengdu last month.

Working with studios in France, Spain and Canada, the VR experience operator uses Pico or HTC headsets at designated venues in China and other countries to immerse people in 40-minute stories, set in ancient Egypt or the time of the dinosaurs.

There's still a ways to go before replacing movie theaters. Tang said that across four venues, the company made $14.82 million in ticket sales in three years. But he said Metavision is already profitable.

It reflects how VR may not be for the mass home market — and how cinematic experience may evolve.

"Immersive entertainment commercializes fastest when one operator controls the hardware, the environment, and the narrative all together as a single integrated experience," said Jialu Shan, an associate research director at the Center for Future Readiness at IMD Business School.

"One thing genuinely unique to China is the sheer scale of the large-format, location-based VR venues," she said, noting state policy support for such experiences. In combination with tourism, it's a trend she expects is more investable.

But Hollywood hasn't made the leap yet.

When I asked Tang about American content partners, he said it was "just a matter of time" before Hollywood studios license their characters to VR producers. He claimed Apple Vision Pro product engineers already tried Metavision's VR experience in Shanghai last year. Apple did not respond to a request for comment.

Even as U.S. giants eye China's entertainment market, it may be changing faster than they can adapt.

Need to know

China's crude oil imports hit a three-month high in July

A thaw in Strait of Hormuz tensions lifted China's crude imports last month, narrowing the year-on-year decline to just 24%, versus a 41% drop in June. AI-related demand drove China's overall export growth of nearly 24% year-on-year in July.

U.S.-China tensions ramp up ahead of Trump-Xi meeting

China retaliated against recent U.S. actions — such as restrictions on foreign-made humanoid robots — with export controls on drone sales to the U.S. Beijing also banned Chinese companies from working with U.S. entities for completing factory inspections required for selling electronics and other goods in China.

Wealthy Chinese scramble for tax advice as Beijing targets offshore trusts

Offshore trusts, long used by China's ultra-rich to store wealth, now face multiple tax events — at a 20% rate each. The new rules cover assets transferred to the trusts since the start of 2023, on which back taxes must be paid by Oct. 22 this year.

Coming up

Aug. 17: Retail sales, industrial production and fixed-asset investment data

Aug. 19 - 23: World Robot Conference in Beijing

Aug. 22 - 26: World Humanoid Robot Games in Beijing %!s()

In a new study published in Nature Communications, researchers from the Weizmann Institute of Science succeeded in identifying which DNA sequences and structures are the preferred targets for several of the most important DNA repair enzymes. The findings from the laboratory of Dr. Ariel Afek suggest that these preferences shaped the human genome and could even help explain how cells become cancerous.

Every day, thousands of chemical reactions take place in every living cell, damaging the genome. "When DNA repair systems work properly, they repair most of the damage, but not all of it," Afek explains. "Therefore, the rate at which mutations accumulate is a balance between the rate of damage and the rate of repair.

"This balance varies across different areas of the genome, and we still do not understand why certain mutations manage to accumulate in specific regions. Most studies to date have focused on changes that leave a 'scar'—a mutation. But to fully understand these changes, we must also consider the genetic 'wounds' themselves, including those that are repaired without leaving a trace."

How repair enzymes read context

In this new study, Afek's team sought to characterize where in the genome repair enzymes succeed and where they are less effective. To do this, they developed a chip with thousands of short DNA molecules attached to it, all carrying the same genetic damage but different surrounding sequences.

"We discovered that, like a good editor examining every word in its context, the three repair enzymes we tested are sensitive to the exact combination of genetic letters, or bases, surrounding the error site," says doctoral student Noga Levy from Afek's lab, who led the study.

"Even bases located five positions upstream or downstream on the ladder affect how likely the repair enzymes are to recognize the damage site and bind to it. When we delved into the preferred sequences, we found that they share common structural features. One of the enzymes, for example, preferred sequences that create an exceptionally narrow region in the helical ladder."

To understand why that enzyme prefers a specific structure, the Weizmann scientists joined forces with a research team headed by Prof. Brian P. Weiser from Rowan University in New Jersey to run a computer simulation. They found that one of the enzyme's amino acids scans the area surrounding the damage site and is attracted to the negative electrical charge that characterizes narrow regions of the ladder.

Traces in evolution and cancer

Next, they tested whether the preferences of the repair enzymes affected how mutations accumulated in the genome over the course of evolution. A DNA molecule looks like a spiral staircase, in which each step is made of a pair of bases. Under normal conditions, there is a base-pairing match: Base A always pairs with T, and C with G. One of the most common forms of genomic damage occurs when a C base is replaced by a different base, disrupting this pairing.

Several of the most important DNA repair enzymes are responsible for identifying and removing the incorrect base. The scientists hypothesized that regions where repair enzymes operate efficiently would retain more C bases, while unrepaired changes would accumulate in other regions. And indeed, they found a correlation of exactly that kind for one of the repair enzymes.

"This finding paves the way for a better understanding of the course of human evolution," Afek explains. "To identify which genomic changes were adopted by humans to survive a changing environment, we must first understand which changes accumulate naturally due to the preferences of the repair mechanisms."

Mutations are not only a force driving momentous evolutionary changes over billions of years but also changes that take place in the body of a single person over the years. Cancerous tumors, for example, stem from a single cell in the body whose accumulated mutations cause it to multiply uncontrollably.

"We found a correlation between the repair enzymes' preferences and mutational signatures—patterns of mutations—in human tumors," Levy adds. "One possibility is that a process in the bodies of cancer patients damaged the repair enzymes, allowing mutations to pile up in areas that were previously protected.

"Alternatively, over the course of evolution, the repair enzymes may have adapted to target regions that are inherently more vulnerable. Either way, this reinforces our understanding that repair mechanisms play a key role in how cancer develops."

Sharper tools for gene editing

This study offers a fascinating new way of exploring the cell's DNA repair system, and another project in Afek's lab, led by graduate student Noga Carmon, has already expanded the scope to other repair mechanisms. "Understanding how repair mechanisms 'choose' their targets opens up all kinds of ways to harness them for our own needs," Afek says.

"We already use these enzymes as tools in gene editing. A deeper understanding will allow us to fine-tune these technologies and perhaps even engineer enzymes that provide better genetic protection. Since failures in repair mechanisms are a primary driver of cancer, my hope is that understanding them will pave the way for new, more targeted therapies."

Publication details

Noga Levy et al, Mapping DNA glycosylase binding across lesion sequence contexts reveals extended sequence and structural recognition logic, Nature Communications (2026). DOI: 10.1038/s41467-026-74090-0

Who's behind this story?

Lisa Lock

BA art history, MA material culture. Former museum editor, paramedic, and transplant coordinator. Editing for Science X since 2021. Full profile →

Robert Egan

Bachelor's in mathematical biology, Master's in creative writing. Well-traveled with unique perspectives on science and language. Full profile →

Citation: DNA repair enzymes favor specific sequences, shaping mutation patterns in the human genome (2026, August 10) retrieved 10 August 2026 from https://phys.org/news/2026-08-dna-enzymes-favor-specific-sequences.html

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