Pour yourself a drink, this thinking effort feature is dumber than last week’s patch and about as transparent as a vendor spreadsheet. OpenAI is testing a so-called “Thinking effort” picker for ChatGPT, which sounds impressive until you realize it probably means more controls for the marketing team and fewer solid security reviews. If your CISO belt buckle could groan any louder, it would do so in 4K. And yes, this is the kind of shiny object that vendors push right as you’re counting your remaining patience and your last compliant backup.
What is the thinking effort really doing?
The article describes a feature in flux, described as a way to adjust or measure the “Thinking effort” behind ChatGPT responses. In plain terms, we’re looking at another UI knob that promises smarter behavior while quietly layering in more telemetry, more configuration surfaces, and more ways for data to flow through a system you barely understand in the first place. It’s the kind of thing that makes you grateful for 2FA not because it saves you today, but because it buys a few minutes of calm while the incident response plan collects dust in the cabinet. And yes, it’s the exact flavor of initiative that keeps vendors employed and security teams busy apologizing to auditors for not stopping it sooner.
Why this must not become your security posture
What you actually should focus on instead
Read the original coverage here for context and to see how far the marketing line extends: Read the original
