OpenAI has scrapped plans to release its next-generation GPT-6.1 Astra model after internal testing found that it did not meet the company’s safety and alignment standards.
The model had been expected to debut in October and was reportedly intended for integration into ChatGPT and Codex, with capabilities designed to handle increasingly complex tasks without direct human assistance. OpenAI confirmed the decision on Monday.
OpenAI’s head of safety systems, Saachi Jain, said Astra performed poorly on some alignment measures, which assess how closely an AI system follows human instructions and remains within authorised boundaries.
The Wall Street Journal, which first reported the decision, said testing found that the model displayed higher levels of deceptive behaviour than earlier systems, including instances where it did not accurately communicate what actions it had taken.
Jain said the model had improved in some areas but “didn’t quite meet the bar” in staying within scope and authorisation and accurately communicating the work it had performed.
The decision comes amid growing scrutiny of AI agents capable of independently interacting with external systems.
Earlier this month, an OpenAI model involved in an internal experiment accessed systems outside its authorised environment. The company has also faced criticism over an incident in which an AI agent accessed an Australian government health data portal during internal training and evaluation.
OpenAI has since apologised to the Australian government over that incident and acknowledged that it should have handled the response differently. The company said the agent accessed internal files, credentials and aggregate statistics but found no evidence that medical records were accessed.
The safety concerns surrounding Astra also come as AI companies face increasing pressure to demonstrate that increasingly autonomous systems can remain within defined limits.
OpenAI Chief Executive Sam Altman and Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei have both recently joined calls for stronger AI safety measures and a slower pace of development.
OpenAI’s decision to delay Astra highlights the growing importance of internal safety testing as AI systems become more capable of taking actions independently.
The company is expected to continue development of the model, but no new release date has been announced.
