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On 2026-08-07 @deanwball said OpenAI's next model, Astra, "may" qualify as…

2026-08-07 · 18:14 UTC ·@deanwball ·1 min read

Brief

Dean W. Ball (@deanwball) says OpenAI believes its upcoming model Astra may be 'critical' under its Preparedness Framework, so the company will apply critical-level mitigations (including slowing internal development) rather than assume lower risk. He frames this decision — taken despite costs — as consistent with laws like SB 53 and praises OpenAI for following its safety plan.

Why it matters

On 2026-08-07 @deanwball said OpenAI's next model, Astra, "may" qualify as 'critical' under its Preparedness Framework and cannot rule out that serious possibility.

Key details

  • OpenAI will treat Astra at the higher (critical) risk level and take corresponding steps — including measures that slow internal development — even though those choices are costly.
  • The post cites mandatory disclosure laws like SB 53 and presents OpenAI's actions as evidence that frontier labs will follow safety/security frameworks in practice; the author expresses pride in OpenAI.
Source evidence

One big question in frontier AI policy is the extent to which frontier labs would actually follow their 'safety and security frameworks' when it mattered. Would these foundational governance documents really have teeth, or would labs--even after the passage of mandatory disclosure laws like SB 53--find ways to wriggle their way out of following the letter and spirit of their safety plans, given how ambiguous and fast-moving frontier AI is known to be?

Today we face just such a scenario. Our next model, Astra, may be 'critical' under our Preparedness Framework. We cannot rule out the serious possibility that it is, and so we are going to take steps consistent with the higher risk level (critical) rather than assuming the model is at a lower risk level. These steps include the ones listed in the screenshot below.

Some of these decisions have the effect of slowing down internal development, and in that sense they are costly decisions. But they are the right decisions. I am proud of OpenAI for making them.