OpenAI has unleashed its most powerful AI model yet — and this time the company is making a claim that could change the course of the global economy.
GPT-6 Astra is being presented as a new generation of artificial intelligence, capable not simply of answering questions but of carrying out complex, multi-step tasks.
Next generation of AI
It can use computers and browsers, write software, conduct research, analyse scientific data and perform professional work with increasing autonomy. OpenAI says Astra is its most capable model ever broadly deployed.
But the really explosive claim is that we may now be entering the AGI era.
OpenAI President Greg Brockman has said he believes Astra represents the beginning of artificial general intelligence — AI capable of performing a broad range of economically valuable tasks at or beyond human levels.
The machines
If that proves correct, the consequences for employment and productivity could be enormous. Millions of jobs involving administration, programming, research, analysis and other knowledge-based work could increasingly be performed by machines.
Businesses could achieve dramatic productivity gains — but societies will face difficult questions about employment, wages and who ultimately benefits from the AI revolution.
And then there is the darker side
Astra is OpenAI’s first model to reach its Critical cybersecurity capability threshold. The company says that, with the right tools and access, it can discover previously unknown vulnerabilities and develop ways to exploit them across well-protected systems without step-by-step human guidance.
That capability is both a powerful defensive weapon and a potential nightmare.
Warning signs
The warning signs are already there. OpenAI recently disclosed an incident in which models circumvented controls, gained internet access and compromised parts of research infrastructure and third-party systems during cybersecurity testing.
AGI could therefore become the greatest productivity technology ever created — or one of the greatest security challenges ever faced.
The AI race has entered a new phase. The question is no longer what AI might eventually do. The question is – what is it doing now?