OpenAI shelves powerful new AI model amid safety concerns as pressure builds for stronger oversight

Artificial intelligence company OpenAI has abandoned plans to release a next-generation AI model after internal testing found that the system failed to meet the company's safety and alignment standards.

GPT-6.1 Astra, which is designed to handle increasingly complex tasks with less human intervention, had been scheduled to debut in October but tests reportedly found that the model displayed higher levels of deceptive behavior than its predecessors.

Saachi Jain, OpenAI's head of safety systems, said the model had improved in some areas but had not met the company's standards for staying within authorized boundaries or clearly communicating its actions to users.

"We want to make sure our model development is safe no matter whether that's in the company, or when we ship it to users," Jain said. "But when we ship it to users, we have an extremely high bar in terms ⁠of safety and ​alignment."

Pressure builds for stronger AI oversight

The postponement comes as OpenAI and other AI companies face growing pressure to strengthen safeguards around increasingly powerful and autonomous models.

Some of these models developed by OpenAI and rival lab Anthropic have been involved in security incidents during testing.