Astra Takes Flight: OpenAI's GPT-6 Model Unleashed on ChatGPT Users

OpenAI's GPT-6 Astra has begun rolling out to ChatGPT subscribers, marking what OpenAI president Greg Brockman called a 'generational leap' and the start of the AGI era. The rollout started on September 3 with a small group of testers before expanding to paid ChatGPT users across all tiers.

The new model, Astra, is significantly more capable than its predecessor GPT-5.6 Sol, completing tasks approximately 47% faster and achieving impressive benchmark scores. On the OSWorld 2.0 benchmark, Astra scored 72.6% in 40 minutes, compared to Sol's 65.7% in 75 minutes.

Astra also scored a perfect 100% on ExploitBench, demonstrating its ability to autonomously detect and exploit unknown vulnerabilities in secure systems. This capability earned it OpenAI's highest internal classification: 'Critical' on its Preparedness Framework for cybersecurity.

However, the rollout was not without issues, with some users experiencing access problems on September 4. CEO Sam Altman apologized publicly for the confusion, attributing the bottleneck to rollout logistics rather than pricing or licensing.