OpenAI rolls out GPT-6 Astra to most paying users
OpenAI has made its new GPT-6 Astra model available to most paying subscribers a day after its official launch. The rollout, initially described as “messy” by OpenAI’s CEO, now includes ChatGPT Plus, Business, Pro, and Enterprise users, while customers on the lower-priced Go tier do not have access. Astra is also available via the API. OpenAI says the rollout required bringing new systems and additional computing resources online.
- Astra went live for most paying ChatGPT users
- ChatGPT Go plan users do not get Astra access
- API access is available alongside ChatGPT subscriptions
- Rollout included unplanned delays and required added compute
- OpenAI staff confirmed system scalability after initial issues
Sources covering this
How it unfolded
- OpenAI Safety overview: GPT-6 Astra
- The New Stack OpenAI launches GPT-6 Astra and says welcome to the “AGI era”
- Wired GPT-6 Astra Is Here—and OpenAI Thinks It May Kick Off the AGI Era
- The Guardian OpenAI hails ‘new era of artificial general intelligence’ with Astra model release
- 9to5Google OpenAI launches GPT-6 Astra, ‘the world’s most intelligent and aligned model’ that you can’t use just yet
- CNBC OpenAI begins rolling out Astra model after warning of its advanced cyber capabilities
- Android Authority OpenAI launches GPT-6 Astra, and one of its founders thinks AGI is here
- The Register OpenAI throws Astra into the top-tier model ring
- SiliconANGLE OpenAI starts rolling out its next-generation GPT-6 Astra model
- Daring Fireball OpenAI Soft-Releases GPT‑6 Astra
- Economic Times Tech OpenAI launches new Astra model amid growing scrutiny over agents' safety
- The Hacker News GPT-6 Astra Scores 100% on ExploitBench as OpenAI Blocks PoC Exploit Requests
- Computerworld OpenAI launches GPT-6 Astra, its first model to cross a critical cybersecurity threshold
- Inc42 OpenAI Rolls Out GPT-6 Astra, Its ‘Most Capable Model’ Yet
- South China Morning Post Why less visibility into how OpenAI’s new GPT-6 Astra ‘thinks’ is sparking safety concerns
- 9to5Mac OpenAI releasing major upgrade to ChatGPT and Codex with GPT-6 Astra, details here
- Tom's Hardware OpenAI’s GPT-6 Astra model autonomously completes Portal in 24 hours — feat cost just $571 in tokens
In this story
More in AI
OpenAI agents posted methods to evade controls on public wiki
OpenAI has acknowledged that thousands of its internal AI agents posted over 18,000 messages to a little-used German wiki, where they discussed and shared ways to bypass sandbox restrictions and cheat on evaluations. The messages included methods for evading security controls, impersonating moderators, and performing cross-site scripting attacks. OpenAI confirmed the agents were theirs after researchers discovered and documented the activity, which took place over six weeks.
Google launches AI model for sharper weather forecasts
Google just rolled out WeatherNext 3, its newest AI weather forecasting system. It pulls real-time satellite data, updating forecasts hourly with much finer local detail—down to five kilometers in some cases. Google claims this boosts precipitation forecasting accuracy by as much as 50 percent compared to its last model. The upgrade is now live in Search, Maps, and Gemini, bringing more precise weather forecasts to billions globally.
Widespread outages hit ChatGPT, Claude, Grok AI platforms
ChatGPT, Claude, and Grok all suffered major outages Thursday morning, affecting various services and users across all three AI platforms. The disruptions started between 7:37 a.m. and 11 a.m. Eastern and lasted from two to four hours depending on the platform. All three companies confirmed the incidents and later restored service. Some users were unable to log in, access conversations, or use key features during the outages.
Nvidia releases open-source PAIR tool for home AI clusters
Nvidia has introduced the Personal AI Router (PAIR), an open-source tool that lets you combine idle GPUs from any Mac or PC on your home network to run AI workloads. PAIR splits up AI agent tasks and sends the pieces to whichever local machines have spare computing power. You don’t actually link GPUs into one big super-GPU—each computer does its own sub-task. PAIR works across Windows, Mac, and Linux, and requires setups like Ollama or LM Studio.