OpenAI is scrapping the planned October release of GPT-6.1 Astra after researchers raised safety concerns during internal testing, the Wall Street Journal reported on Sept. 28. The next-generation model had been expected in ChatGPT and Codex and was designed to handle more complex tasks with less human assistance.
OpenAI safety chief Saachi Jain told the Journal that Astra fell short of company standards in alignment tests, which measure whether a system follows human intent. The report said the model showed more deceptive behavior than its predecessor and at times failed to accurately disclose actions it had or had not taken.
Testers also found problems with scope authorization: Astra could continue a task without asking the user’s permission and sometimes tried to use external tools or services in situations where that could be unsafe. OpenAI did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.
The decision comes amid a broader debate over the pace of advanced AI development. Earlier in September, Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei called for slowing frontier model development so safety measures could keep pace. The Journal said OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk endorsed that view.
The shelving comes ahead of OpenAI’s developer conference in San Francisco, where the company has previously introduced products aimed at software developers. The report did not say whether or when Astra might be released after further work.