// 9TO5MAC — MOBILE & WEB
OpenAI releasing major upgrade to ChatGPT and Codex with GPT-6 Astra, details here
Update: A day later, GPT-6 Astra is rolling out to Pro customers on the $100/month or $200/month plan. This follows other new model releases before Plus customers on the $20/month plan gain access.
It’s been just over a year since OpenAI released the first GPT-5 models for ChatGPT. Now it’s time for GPT-6 Astra to upgrade ChatGPT and Codex capabilities. Details below.
OpenAI has officially detailed its new model, GPT-6 Astra, which it calls “the world’s most intelligent and aligned model.”
GPT‑6 Astra brings together years of research and big bets across pre-training, reinforcement learning, and alignment. Astra is state-of-the-art on computer use, browsing, software engineering, cybersecurity, science, and professional work. Astra saturates FrontierMath Tier 4 with a 98% score, having already helped solve long-standing open problems in mathematics. Astra also saturates ARC-AGI-3 with a 99.9% score and ExploitBench with a 100% score. It also sets a new frontier on computer and browser use, handling the most demanding professional work with unmatched speed, accuracy, and judgment.
OpenAI goes further on how GPT-6 improves computer use, which allows ChatGPT to use your Mac or other desktop, including in the background while you work:
GPT‑6 Astra pairs advances in computer use with targeted training for professional environments, to help tackle complex work tasks. It combines the intelligence required for complex problems with the ability to carry out multistep workflows and produce polished documents, spreadsheets, and presentations.
Additionally, GPT-6 Astra is “the best model for software engineering to date,” OpenAI says.
With Astra, ChatGPT is nearly 2x faster at computer use than before.In addition to the amazing new model, we’ve optimized the harness to make computer use run much faster.These optimizations work in existing models too, so tasks are sped up by ~60% in GPT-5.6 Sol. Try it! pic.twitter.com/2EXH5f0uZL
In terms of Codex specifically, here’s something new about GPT-6:
With Astra, we’re introducing a new way for Codex to preserve and retrieve context when the context window fills. Historically, models have used compaction to summarize work during long sessions, such as when debugging complex issues or tackling large refactors. Each compaction can leave out details about why a fix failed or how a component behaves. In Codex, Astra can keep notes across context windows, preserving accumulated details without repeatedly compressing them into a single summary. Earlier context windows remain searchable, so Astra can find requirements or test results from previous messages and tool outputs—even if that information wasn’t captured in its notes. You can enable this experimental feature in your Codex, and it will become the default for Astra in the coming weeks.