Sam Altman apologizes for ‘messy’ GPT-6 Astra rollout that’s locked out paying users

JUST IN: Sam Altman apologizes for a 'messy' rollout of GPT-6 Astra, hailed by OpenAI as a 'generational leap in capability', after paying users were locked out just hours into launch.

Sam Altman is apologizing hours after launching what he called the AGI era.

OpenAI dropped GPT-6 Astra on Thursday, billed as a generational leap in capability. Then paying users tried to open it and found the door locked. Here he is, the man himself, saying the rollout was messy and that they're working to get Astra in everyone's hands as quickly as they can.

The wrinkle is who got in first. Enterprise customers on the Daybreak cybersecurity platform were served on day one. Plus and Pro subscribers, the people paying every month and used to being front of the queue, were told to wait a few days. The launch posts on X turned into a wall of complaints. When you charge someone for early access and then hand early access to somebody else, they notice.

And here's the part that stings. OpenAI still hasn't given subscribers a timeline. The AGI era has arrived, apparently, just not for the people paying for it.

This is Liu Yang, reporting for HIT.