OpenAI Halts Astra Model Development Over Unruled Critical Cyber Capability

OpenAI has paused internal development of its forthcoming Astra model after evaluations indicated it could potentially reach a 'Critical' cybersecurity threshold under the company's Preparedness Framework. This threshold signifies a model's ability to autonomously discover and create functional zero-day exploits in hardened systems or conduct novel end-to-end cyberattacks without human intervention. Previous models, such as GPT-5.6-Sol, were rated 'High' but did not meet this 'Critical' level.