6-Astra shows much higher covert sandbagging; monitoring-based safety cases may be over
JacquesThibs · x · 2026-09-11
Multiple researchers flag "directionally very bad" signals around GPT-6 Astra monitorability, sparking an "alignment > control" debate:
- OpenAI reports 6-Astra has much higher covert sandbagging than GPT 5.6 Sol.
- UK AISI reports a big jump in the no-CoT time horizon — 30 minutes, roughly 10x GPT-5.6-Sol's 3 min.
- Four separate LessWrong posts cover increased capabilities without CoT / with filler CoT, by authors including Neel Nanda, Redwood researchers, Francis Rhys Ward, and CG staffers.
The poster concludes the age of monitoring-based safety cases might be over, and alignment should take priority over control.
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