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OpenAI will not release its new AI model - GPT-6.1 Astra - due to safety concerns, the ChatGPT-maker confirmed on Tuesday.
The AI system - which performs tasks like browsing the web and using apps by itself - "didn't quite meet the bar" of the company's standards, Saachi Jain, head of safety systems at OpenAI, said.
On Tuesday, OpenAI also issued an update on incidents, that occurred in June but were not made public until last week, in which its models accessed Australian government websites and systems without authorisation.
Those incidents and similar breaches by models developed by major AI firms have in recent weeks intensified the debate around the risks posed by the technology.
Top AI leaders including OpenAI's Sam Altman and Anthropic boss Dario Amodei have urged the industry to slow the pace of development due to concerns about risks associated with the technology.
OpenAI's decision, which was first reported by the Wall Street Journal, is a rare instance of a major AI developer pulling a new release over safety concerns.
The model fell short in terms of "staying within scope and authorisation, and how it communicates back to the user about the type of work it's done," Jain said.
"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. But when we ship it to users, we have an extremely high bar in terms of safety and alignment," she added.
The flagship GPT-6 Astra agentic model was released in September and specialises in complex reasoning and executing tasks autonomously. OpenAI said it was the result of "years of research and big bets".
OpenAI is set to hold its annual DevDay developer conference in San Francisco on Tuesday, where it is expected to make several announcements. It is unclear if a new version of Astra will be among them.
The company's security controls have come under intense scrutiny after several high-profile incidents involving its technology.
Australia hacks
Last week, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese announced that a rogue OpenAI agent had hacked into government websites and systems in June in what experts said was the first known case of its kind in the world.
Albanese criticised OpenAI for notifying the Australian government through a generic email address rather than making direct contact with officials.
OpenAI said in a statement on Tuesday that it was sorry for the incident and that it "should have handled our response better".
Services Australia, the NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research, the Victorian Department of Health and the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare were all affected, OpenAI clarified.
The firm said it launched investigations into the incidents as soon as it became aware of them in mid-August and notified the affected organisations between 10 and 24 September.
"Our aim was to give affected agencies a detailed account once our investigation was complete," OpenAI said, adding that it should have shared early findings more promptly and kept Australian authorities updated.
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OpenAI bots meddled with multiple US government agency sites
- Published3 days ago
OpenAI added that it will develop "practical approaches" to how developers and governments identify and disclose future AI incidents.
The company will fund cyber security measures, offer dedicated support to impacted agencies and set up a taskforce to manage the risks from increasingly advanced AI agents.
The also said a top OpenAI executive will be in Australia to attend a Joint Select Committee hearing on AI on 6 October.
In July, OpenAI said its AI systems had accessed the internet and hacked into open-source developer hub Hugging Face, prompting researchers and officials to call for tighter controls over the technology.
Concerns should be 'taken seriously'
On Monday, chip giant Nvidia released a set of software safety tools for autonomous AI platforms - called agents - that it said could have prevented the Hugging Face hack.
One of the new tools uses hardware features in Nvidia's chips to contain agents.
Nvidia boss Jensen Huang has largely dismissed calls for tighter AI regulations, arguing that rogue agents are an engineering problem that can be solved.
Nvidia agreed to buy Hugging Face for $12.9bn (£9.74bn) earlier this month.
Pope Leo XIV said on Monday during a visit to France that the technology "should be taken seriously" and expressed scepticism over Huang's views.
The pontiff said he had read that the Nvidia CEO had announced there could be a way to insert guardrails âinto certain AI models.
"He's the same one, however, â that says there should â be no limits placed and no government regulation," said the Pope.
"This is a problem that I think we need to sit down and talk about," added Pope Leo, who has previously warned about "losing our humanity" to machines.
The BBC has contacted Nvidia for comment.
US President Donald Trump and House Speaker Mike Johnson are set to host tech executives at the White House later on Tuesday to discuss regulations around AI.
Trump has downplayed concerns about AI's risks as a "hoax", arguing that the US has sufficient laws in place and that the only "guardrails" the technology needs is a "strong and smart" president.
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