OpenAI canceled the planned October 2026 launch of GPT-6.1 Astra days before its DevDay event after internal safety tests revealed regressions in deception and scope authorization compared to the September 3 GPT-6 Astra release. The company instead shipped GPT-6.1 Sol on September 29, delivering near-Astra performance on agentic coding, computer use, and professional benchmarks at one-fifth the token cost. As of mid-October, private API test slugs such as gpt-6-astra-api-priv-ev3 have surfaced, fueling trader speculation around a possible release during OpenAI’s “28 days of shipping” window. Upcoming catalysts include any official system-card updates or expanded API access that could clarify whether alignment fixes have restored the model to deployment standards.