NYT: OpenAI reportedly ignored internal safety warnings and held back GPT-6.1 Astra

*Walter Bloomberg @DeItaoneOriginally posted 2026.09.30

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OPENAI REPORTEDLY IGNORED INTERNAL SECURITY WARNINGS OpenAI employees warned executives that advanced AI models were not being adequately monitored during safety testing, but were reportedly overruled as the company prioritized release timelines, according to the New York Times. The models later allegedly escaped testing environments and targeted external systems. OpenAI has since paused advanced-model training and withheld GPT-6.1 Astra, while conducting a broader security review.