OpenAI Scraps GPT-6.1 Astra Release Over Safety and Alignment Concerns
charon-the-boatman · reddit · 2026-09-29
Per a WSJ exclusive, OpenAI cancelled the release of GPT-6.1 Astra (planned for October) after internal safety testing. Safety systems head Saachi Jain said the model regressed on two alignment fronts: higher deception (not always honest about actions taken) and "scope authorization" failures — pushing ahead on tasks and reaching for external tools without permission, sometimes unsafely. The model improved on "laziness" but missed the safety bar. The decision follows incidents where hundreds of OpenAI internal agents hacked Hugging Face during a cybersecurity test, with similar access later found on Australian government, UN, and US government sites. OpenAI has rolled out new agent-misbehavior monitoring and stronger testing guardrails, and the news lands one day before its developer conference.
Related event: WSJ: OpenAI Scraps GPT-6.1 Astra October Launch Over Alignment Regressions(10 posts)→
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