ChatGPT-5 will be provided to all staff and students at the University of Oxford, following a year-long pilot involving around 750 researchers and professional services staff. Oxford will be the first university in the UK to offer generative AI tools to all of its students. 

Students will be invited to join a shared workspace which offers access to ChatGPT-5, the latest model from OpenAI, as well as a limited number of custom GPT models specialised for specific research tasks created by other University members.

The GPT-5 model has been provided through ChatGPT Edu, a purpose-built version of ChatGPT designed specifically for universities. OpenAI advertises the product as offering “significantly higher message limits than the free version of ChatGPT”. ChatGPT Edu also provides additional capabilities compared to the free version, such as increased allowance for file uploads and data analysis.

For universities, a major attraction of ChatGPT Edu is security. OpenAI claims not to train its LLMs using chat history from any of its enterprise models, including ChatGPT Edu. The company also states that, with these models, “workspace admins can access an audit log of conversations” to manage compliance issues.

Professor Anne Trefethen, the University’s Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Digital, said: “We know that significant numbers of students are already using generative AI tools…through robust governance, training, guidance and support, we are encouraging safe and responsible use within a secure environment.”

Professor Freya Johnston, Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Education, added: “Generative AI is also helping us to explore new ways of engaging with students, alongside our renowned face-to-face teaching and tutorial model.”

An email announcing the wider rollout was sent today to staff and postgraduate research students. Undergraduates and taught postgraduates will receive information on Monday. 

Cherwell can report that several undergraduates already received invitations from an OpenAI email address to join the University’s ChatGPT workspace at 11:30pm on Wednesday. It remains unclear why some undergraduates received this but not others. The University did not respond to questions on this point.

This wider rollout of ChatGPT Edu follows the August release of a new University policy for the use of generative AI in research. The policy allows for a wide range of uses, including conducting literature reviews, identifying research gaps, and developing hypotheses. It does, however, specify that “users should declare the substantive use of GenAI tools in their work”.

Oxford University has announced that Professor Mette Morsing will serve as Interim Dean of the Saïd Business School from mid-September, following the resignation of Professor Soumitra Dutta.

A University spokesperson told Cherwell: “Professor Soumitra Dutta has stepped down as Dean of Saïd Business School and has now left the University. Professor Mette Morsing, Director of the Smith School of Enterprise and the Environment, will take up the role of Interim Dean from 22 September.”

According to Bloomberg, a five-month University investigation, which concluded earlier this year,  upheld three allegations of harassment made by a female academic against Morsing’s predecessor, Professor Dutta. Dutta took medical leave in May, which was extended into the summer, before stepping down in September. Internal messages to staff seen by Bloomberg gave no indication that his resignation was linked to the outcome of the inquiry.

The University stated that staff concerns were addressed through “established procedures”, adding that it maintains “a strong framework of support in place for staff and students who feel they have been subject to harassment” and that it does not tolerate sexual misconduct. 

Professor Dutta had held the deanship since 2022. During his tenure at Oxford, Dutta emphasised female representation in business leadership and supported the creation of scholarships to increase women’s participation in the MBA programme. His wider career includes positions as the Deputy Dean of Institut Européen d’Administration des Affaires (INSEAD) and the Founding Dean of Cornell University’s SC Johnson College of Business. 

Dutta also co-founded the Portulans Institute, a Washington-based think tank, and serves on the board of Dassault Systèmes, a French software design company. In a message to colleagues marking his departure, Professor Dutta described his time at Oxford as “the greatest privilege” of his professional life.

Founded in 1996 following a £30 million donation from businessman Wafic Saïd, the Saïd Business School has become a significant part of Oxford’s global profile. It is consistently ranked among the leading institutions for business and management education.

Professor Morsing’s academic career has included senior roles at Copenhagen Business School, the Stockholm School of Economics, and the United Nations Global Compact. She has published extensively on corporate responsibility, governance, and sustainability.

With Professor Morsing assuming leadership, attention will now turn to ensuring continuity for staff and students while the University begins the process of appointing a permanent successor.
Cherwell has approached Professors Dutta and Morsing for comment.

President-Elect of the Oxford Union George Abaraonye is receiving backlash for his positive comments on Charlie Kirk’s shooting. Initially, George Abaraonye told Cherwell: “In that moment of shock, I reacted impulsively and made comments prior to Charlie being pronounced dead that I quickly deleted upon learning of his passing. Those words did not reflect my values.”

Since Friday 11th September, there have been more responses to the story. This article will be updated as new developments arise.

James Price, former Conservative Party Chief of Staff, resigned as the honorary secretary of the Oxford Literary Debating & Union Trust (OLDUT), saying he “cannot in good conscience remain” in the position. Price condemned Abaraonye’s statement in response to the backlash calling it “psychopathic”. OLDUT is a financial trust that owns the Union buildings and licenses the society’s operations on the premises.

Oxford African Caribbean Society (ACS) has issued a statement condemning the “anti-black and anti-migrant rhetoric”, racial abuse, and death threats directed towards Abaraonye among the backlash to his comments. ACS stated: “We encourage productive conversation rather than the disparaging of George’s character and denouncing the legitimacy of black people existing in Higher Education.” Oxford Feminist Society shared the post on their story in solidarity.

Elon Musk replied to a post on X on the alleged motion of no confidence: “Kick him out.” Musk also supported Pierce Morgan’s denouncement of Abaraonye. Responding to a post claiming Abaraonye’s admission into Oxford showcases “unfairness that talented white people are having to face”, Musk stated: “Racism of any kind is wrong, obviously including anti-White racism.”

US Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau stated that he will strip visas from foreign nationals that “glorify violence and hatred”. He responded to a post condemning Abaraonye’s words with an image of the US seal styled as a Batman spotlight with words “El Quitavisas” in the corner – Spanish for “the visa remover”.

Former Prime Minister Liz Truss posted on X calling Lord Hague, Chancellor of Oxford University, to “show some mettle and expel George Abaraonye”. Lord Hague was approached for comment.

Richard Tice, the deputy leader of Reform UK, told The Telegraph: “Free speech enables him to say this, but it also shows he is not fit to be president and should be fired from his post and expelled from the university.”

A former Tory Cabinet minister also told The Telegraph: “The Oxford Union is the cradle of politicians. One of the lessons in politics is learning to resign with dignity.”

University College Master Baroness Valerie Amos stated that Abaraonye’s comments “do not contravene the College’s policies on free speech” and “no disciplinary action will be taken”.

The Oxford Union issued a statement condemning the racial abuse and threats directed at Abaraonye. “No individual should ever be attacked because of the colour of their skin or the community they come from.” The statement also added that whilst the Oxford Union “does not possess executive power to summarily dismiss President-Elect”, a complaint was filed against him. Disciplinary proceedings launched by the complaint will be treated “with utmost seriousness” according to the Oxford Union statement.

The online backlash facing Abaraonye has led to doxxing of several others also exposed in the leaked Whatsapp screenshots as well as racist comments directed at Abaraonye.

Oxford Stand Up To Racism has issued a statement in support of Abaraonye calling to “stop the racist witch-hunt”. “It’s absolutely shameful that Abaraonye’s rivals within the Union not only leaked the comments to the press, but also phone numbers of freshers that were also part of the WhatsApp group.”

The Ellison Institute of Technology (EIT) is funding an Oxford vaccine research project that will tackle pathogenic diseases using AI.

Ellison, who recently overtook Elon Musk as the world’s richest man, is giving Oxford £118 million for the programme, which will be led by the Oxford Vaccine Group. 

Professor Sir Andrew Pollard, director of the group that led COVID-19 trials, described the programme as a “new frontier in vaccine science”. Scientists will use “human challenge models”, where volunteers are safely exposed to bacteria under controlled conditions and AI tools to identify immune responses that predict protection.

Oxford’s Vice-Chancellor, Irene Tracey, described the project as a “major step forward” in the strategic alliance with the Ellison Institute. She explained that her vision is to draw “more talent and capacity to the Oxford ecosystem to turn scientific challenges into real solutions for the world”.

EIT is designed to host 7,000 scientists, including an oncology clinic, auditorium, laboratories, library, classrooms, and park space. Oxford University, by comparison, has 5,000 research staff.

The Institute has already faced leadership turbulence, with the President, John Bell, resigning days before the vaccine project was announced. Bell was pictured signing the contracts with Irene Tracey when the “strategic alliance” was first announced in December 2024. Bell publicly endorsed Lord Hague in the Chancellor election last year.

The Wall Street Journal reported that Bell clashed with Ellison over operations and staffing, and that tensions flared over the mix of people being brought into the Institute, as well as Ellison’s decisions to fire senior staff without involving him.

Bell, who was Regius Professor of Medicine at Oxford until March last year, also serves as chair of Our Future Health, a government-funded project to genetically test millions of patients. He holds over £700,000 of shares in Roche, a pharmaceutical company where he sat on the board for 20 years, which has drawn criticism from genomics-monitoring groups for the “conflict of interest”.

Despite these controversies surrounding Bell’s various roles, a University spokesperson told Cherwell: “We recognise his pivotal contribution in helping to establish the Institute and in attracting outstanding researchers to its mission.” 

Bell belonged to the Institute’s Faculty of Fellows alongside former Prime Minister, Tony Blair. Tony Blair’s own Institute for Global Change (TBI) is bankrolled by Ellison. As well as sharing their source of funding, the Ellison-funded institutes work in collaboration on an “AI for Governments” project.

Larry Ellison amassed his billions as boss of tech-giant Oracle, where he has made headlines for suggesting that Oracle would pioneer “AI mass surveillance”, as well as for his friendship with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, whom he offered a job at Oracle. Ellison donated to the Israeli military through Friends of the Israel Defense Forces, giving the organisation $16.6 million in 2017.

Ellison also reportedly has a close relationship with Trump, attending meetings in the Oval Office. Trump has questioned the effectiveness of COVID-19 vaccines, which were pioneered by the same Oxford Vaccine Group that are partnering with Ellison’s institute on this project. 

Responding to Ellison’s ties to vaccine-sceptic politicians, as well as questions over the ownership of intellectual property (IP) stemming from the strategic alliance, the University spokesperson told Cherwell that it ensures any external partnerships “align with the University’s public mission, including by realising impact from our academic research”. 

Further details on the ownership or management of intellectual property arising from the programme have not been made public.

President-Elect of the Oxford Union George Abaraonye is receiving backlash for his positive comments on Charlie Kirk’s shooting. Abaraonye posted on his Instagram yesterday the statement: “Charlie Kirk got shot loool [sic.].” The post has since been deleted.

George Abaraonye told Cherwell: “Last night I received the shocking news about a shooting at Charlie Kirk’s event. In that moment of shock, I reacted impulsively and made comments prior to Charlie being pronounced dead that I quickly deleted upon learning of his passing. Those words did not reflect my values.”

The Telegraph has also reported that Abaraonye wrote in messages to a WhatsApp group for the Oxford freshers: “Charlie Kirk got shot, let’s f—ing go.”

The backlash has led to doxxing of other people exposed from the screenshot of the WhatsApp groupchat and racist comments directed at Abaraonye.

The Union has condemned Abaraonye’s comments in a public statement, saying “his reported views do not represent the Oxford Union’s current leadership or committee’s views”. They have emphasised that the Union “opposes all forms of political violence and strongly stands by our commitment to free speech and considerate debate”. 

The comments have sparked a backlash. Josh Wolfe, co-founder of Venture Capital firm Lux Capital, posted on X that he will decline his invitation to speak at the Union until “cultural leadership from the top celebrates peace + coexistence + civil discourse + denounces violence [sic.]”.

StopAntisemitism also posted on X: “Our Executive Director was recently invited to debate at [Oxford Union]. Until George Abraraonye steps down/is removed, StopAntisemitism employees will not be engaging with your debate society due to safety concerns and your President elect’s pro violent stance.” 

Shadow Minister for Women and Equalities Claire Coutinho criticised the comments, posting on X: “Where is the belief in free speech, the tolerance for opinions, the empathy?” The Telegraph article was also reposted by Dan Crenshaw, Republican Congressman. 

A spokesperson of the University of Oxford told Cherwell: “The Oxford Union is independent of the University. We deplore comments appearing to endorse violence – they are unacceptable and entirely contrary to the values of our community.”

Charlie Kirk, 31 was shot dead yesterday while speaking at Utah Valley University. He was attending the University as part of his ‘American Comeback Tour’. Kirk is known for his right-wing activism and public debating in support of second amendment rights and pro-life stance on abortion. 

Kirk visited the Oxford Union earlier this year on 20th May as a speaker in opposition at the debate ‘This house believes Trump has gone too far’. George Abaraonye was one of the students debating Kirk that day.

In response to the backlash, George Abaraonye further told Cherwell: “To be clear: nobody deserves to be the victim of political violence. Nobody should be harmed or killed for the views they hold. I may have disagreed strongly with Mr. Kirk’s politics, but in death we all deserve respect, and I extend my condolences to his family and loved ones.

“At the same time, my reaction was shaped by the context of Mr. Kirk’s own rhetoric – words that often dismissed or mocked the suffering of others. He described the deaths of American children from school shootings as an acceptable “cost” of protecting gun rights. He justified the killing of civilians in Gaza, including women and children, by blaming them collectively for Hamas. He called for the retraction of the Civil Rights Act, and repeatedly spread harmful stereotypes about LGBTQ and trans communities. These were horrific and dehumanising statements.

“My reaction was not a call for violence, but a raw, unprocessed response to what felt like a painful irony. I retracted those words almost immediately, yet I’ve been troubled to see some in the media ignore my retraction while amplifying my deleted comments. A standard of behaviour that is now leading to racist comments and a myriad of threats and discrimination made towards me. It is right to call out my insensitivity, but the same scrutiny must be applied to rhetoric that has caused real harm and continues to do so.”