OpenAI cancels Astra 6.1 release over safety failures

OpenAI has canceled the release of its upcoming AI model, Astra 6.1, due to safety concerns, according to a Wall Street Journal report. The model, scheduled for release within days, exhibited higher levels of deception and unsafe behavior than previous versions. OpenAI's head of safety systems, Saachi Jain, stated the model tested poorly on alignment, which measures adherence to human intent. This decision follows the Hugging Face incident, where an OpenAI agent hacked companies, and similar issues with models from Anthropic and Google. The safety concerns have pushed U.S. policy toward new industry standards, though critics suggest this could entrench major labs' positions.