It’s been just over a year since OpenAI released the first GPT-5 model for ChatGPT. Now it’s time for GPT-6 Astra to upgrade the capabilities of ChatGPT and Codex. Details below.
Description GPT-6 Astra
OpenAI has officially detailed its new model, the GPT-6 Astra, which it calls “the world’s most intelligent model.”
Here’s more from today’s official announcement:
GPT‑6 Astra brings together years of research and big bets across pre-training, reinforcement learning, and conditioning. Astra is cutting-edge in computing, web surfing, software engineering, cyber security, science and professional work. Astra saturates FrontierMath Tier 4 with a score of 98%, helped Solve problems that have been open for a long timem in mathematics. Astra also saturates ARC-AGI-3 with a score of 99.9% and ExploitBench with a score of 100%. It also redefines the use of computers and browsers, handling the most demanding professional tasks with unmatched speed, accuracy, and judgment.
OpenAI goes further on how GPT-6 improves computing, allowing ChatGPT to use your Mac or other desktop, including in the background while you work:
GPT‑6 Astra pairs advanced computing with targeted training for professional environments, to help tackle complex tasks. It combines the intelligence necessary for complex problems with the ability to perform multi-step workflows and produce polished documents, tables, and presentations.
Additionally, GPT-6 Astra is “the best model for software engineering to date,” says OpenAI.
In terms of Codex specifically, here’s what’s new about GPT-6:
With Astra, we are introducing a new way for Codex to maintain and retrieve context when the context window is full. Historically, models have used compression to summarize work during long sessions, such as when solving complex problems or solving large refactors. Each compression can leave details of why the fix failed or how the component performed. In Codex, Astra can keep records across context windows, preserving accumulated details without repeatedly compressing them into a single summary. Previous context windows are still searchable, so Astra can find requirements or test results from previous messages and tool results – even if that information is not saved in its logs. You can activate this experimental feature in your Codex, and it will become Astra’s default in the coming weeks.
OpenAI called the GPT-6 Astra a “significant leap forward in cyber capabilities,” adding that it “achieves key goals in cyber security under our readiness framework.”
For this reason, the model has been slowly rolled out to users.
“GPT‑6 Astra is launching today to limited organizations and in the coming days will be available to all ChatGPT Plus, Pro, Business, and Enterprise users, as well as through the OpenAI API and AWS,” OpenAI said.
“Usage of Astra is included in existing subscription licenses – users and businesses can also purchase credits for additional usage. Users in the Pro, Business, and Enterprise plans will receive access to GPT‑6 Astra Pro. Enterprise administrators can enable Astra for their workspaces; access will be disabled by default at launch.”
Road to GPT-6 Astra
GPT-5 was released on August 7, 2025, replacing GPT-4o and multiple defaults for ChatGPT. Its defining feature is automatic routing: ChatGPT can respond quickly or invoke deeper logic depending on the request. OpenAI also claims fewer real-time errors than GPT-4o.
Apple adopted the format with iOS 26, iPadOS 26, and macOS Tahoe 26. ChatGPT requests through Apple Intelligence, including Siri handoffs, Writing Tools, and visual intelligence, changed from GPT-4o to GPT-5.
GPT-5.1 promises a warmer, more natural response in November. The “red code” of December GPT-5.2 accelerated professional work in response to Gemini. GPT-5.3 immediately targeted the “cringe” sound of ChatGPT, followed two days later by GPT-5.4 thinking with a million-token context window and built-in computing.
OpenAI later added GPT-5.4 mini and nano, GPT-5.4-Cyber, GPT-5.5 restricted for more independent work, GPT-5.5 Instant, and GPT-5.6 models Sol, Terra, and Luna in July.
From the Codex Mac app to the new ChatGPT
The software around those models has also changed. OpenAI launched a dedicated Codex Mac app in February as a hub for working with multiple coding agents, reviewing changes, and scheduling jobs.
In July, Codex effectively became the new ChatGPT desktop app, combining Chat, Work, and Codex while the previous native client was renamed ChatGPT Classic.
For me, Codex has changed the way I work with ChatGPT the most. I can do a lot of work that doesn’t require critical thinking and even create tools on my Mac that I can’t put together otherwise.
There is GPT-6
OpenAI says its new version of GPT-6 will be available only to members of the cybersecurity-focused Daybreak project to begin with. This reflects a similar release pace to its predecessor, GPT-5.6.
Here’s what OpenAI has to say about availability, specifically:
GPT‑6 Astra is launching today for limited organizations and in the coming days will be available to all ChatGPT Plus, Pro, Business, and Enterprise users, as well as through the OpenAI API and AWS.
You can learn more about OpenAI’s latest frontier models here.
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