OpenAI cancels GPT-6.1 Astra release over misbehavior & safety concerns

OpenAI has scrapped plans to release GPT-6.1 Astra in the next few weeks over concerns that the model is misbehaving. The New York Times reports that OpenAI was planning to release GPT-6.1 Astra “in the coming days or weeks,” sometime in October, as its next major model release. GPT-6 Astra launched on September 3. GPT-6.1 Astra is said to have been “more capable” compared to GPT-6 in “completing challenging tasks from end-to-end without human assistance, as well as writing.” The report cites an interview with Saachi Jain, OpenAI’s head of safety systems, who confirmed that the model had regressed in two specific areas. Firstly, it “performed poorly on tests measuring alignment,” or how closely it sticks to the commands/prompts given by the human operator.