OpenAI Halts New Model Over Safety Worries

The race to build smarter, faster artificial intelligence just hit a very public speed bump: OpenAI is scrapping the release of its next-generation AI model over safety concerns raised by researchers during internal testing.

The move marks a rare case of a major AI developer ditching a new release over safety risks. OpenAI’s head of safety systems Saachi Jain told the Journal’s Maxwell Zeff that the model, called GPT-6.1 Astra, regressed on safety tests compared with its predecessor. The company had planned to release the model in October.

The decision comes as OpenAI hosts its annual developer conference in San Francisco, President Trump meets top tech CEOs in Washington and research leaders at OpenAI, Anthropic, Meta and Microsoft call for urgent oversight of self-improving AI systems.

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WSJ’s Sabrina Rodriguez: From a young age, my abuela taught me to speak Spanish and know the history of my family fleeing Cuba’s communist regime. Growing up in Miami-Dade County, both served me well. Miami-Dade is roughly 70% Hispanic. Two-thirds speak Spanish at home. In this largely immigrant community, there was never a shortage of chatter about politics. In 2024, Trump went on to become the first Republican presidential candidate to flip Miami-Dade County since 1988. With the midterms quickly approaching, I wanted to go back home for a mood check: Two years into Trump’s second term, how are Miami residents feeling about his handling of the economy and immigration? I heard voters express frustration with the growing cost of living—but the prevailing complaint was with Trump’s handling of immigration.

Jonathan Silva and his team at WS Game Company set a challenge for themselves last year: Produce a bespoke Monopoly game that was 100% made in America by February. The company set out to produce its first U.S.-made game after Trump imposed high tariffs on Chinese imports. The project was bogged down by cracked trays, high costs and a dice dilemma. The team quickly discovered that a like-for-like game made in China would have been better quality, cost less and come to market faster, reports Ruth Simon. Still, it persevered. The first 2,500 copies of the Americana Edition hit shelves in June.

For the past few years, residents of the tiny Palm Meadows Estates gated community in Boynton Beach, Fla., have gossiped about a string of home purchases that quietly took place in their neighborhood in 2023. Eight homes, most unlisted, closed within weeks for almost $10 million—all bought by the same California LLC. The buyer, as it turns out, was Oracle co-founder and billionaire Larry Ellison. He bought the houses for his children’s tutors and other staff, located about 30 minutes from his oceanfront compound in Manalapan.

That’s the share of vehicle lineups that automakers are expected to redesign on average across the 2026-28 model years, well below the 20-year average of 14%, according to veteran automotive analyst John Murphy. The dearth of new models is a direct hangover from the industry’s shift to electric vehicles and its abrupt pullback. Without them, dealers are left pushing aging designs while automakers race to churn out new models.

At The Yard, a junkyard playground on a former Coast Guard installation in New York City, children play with hammers, saws and knives. They climb ladders, romp in mud and push each other around in secondhand wheelchairs. No parents are allowed. Adult staffers watch, but try to avoid telling kids to be careful unnecessarily. Today’s parents are used to tracking their kids’ every move but some are rethinking that approach and setting them loose outdoors—with some supervision.

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