Model News
OpenAI slows Astra after it hits Critical cyber risk
By Arjun
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8 Aug 10:06 AM
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Via TechCrunch
OpenAI said Friday it slowed parts of Astra development after internal evaluations showed strong enough agentic coding and cybersecurity performance that the lab cannot rule out the Critical level under its Preparedness Framework. That bar covers models that could find and execute cyberattacks against hardened real-world systems without human help. Previous OpenAI models, including GPT-5.6 Sol, were assessed only at High. The company is tightening sandboxes, weight protections, and monitoring, pausing Astra work that fails the new controls, and looping in government agencies plus select safety groups. Caveat: Astra is unreleased, benchmarks are preliminary, and the judgment is OpenAI's own.
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