Apollo Research wants AI evaluators inside the lab during training, not just at launch

AI safety organization Apollo Research has a simple pitch for the industry: stop inviting the inspectors only after the building is finished. The group argues that independent evaluators should have continuous access to AI models throughout training, not just a brief look right before a public release. It calls the idea “embedded evaluations.” The goal is to catch dangerous behaviors, especially scheming, while they are still forming. What Apollo is proposing Apollo laid out its case in a series of blog posts published between September 30 and October 5, 2026. The central argument targets how outside testing currently works. Today, external evaluations typically happen shortly before a model goes public. Apollo’s concern is that by then, the most informative moments in a model’s development have already passed. Instead, the organization wants independent evaluators to have something closer to employee-level access. That means ongoing visibility into the entire training process, rather than a limited set of checks at the finish line. Apollo points to risks tied to multi-agent training and reward-seeking behavior. These issues, the group says, often show up during development rather ...