Hours after OpenAI launched GPT-6 Astra on Thursday, CEO Sam Altman apologized for a “messy rollout” after paying users who expected access were left waiting, The Verge reported Friday, citing Robert Hart. The apology lands on top of the phased start OpenAI laid out the same day: Astra first for Daybreak cybersecurity enterprise customers, then ChatGPT Plus, Pro, Business, and Enterprise, the API, Azure, and AWS Bedrock over the coming days.
That business-first stagger annoyed paid subscribers, especially Pro users who had expected to be early in line. Comments on X under OpenAI staff posts complained about the wait while enterprise Daybreak partners were already in.
Altman posted on X that the company is working to get Astra into everyone’s hands quickly, that the delay is frustrating, and that he appreciates people’s patience. He said it should be quick and that he is hopeful for weekend access, but he cannot promise a date. He also said there was “a little snag getting the blog post deployed.”
Codex engineering lead Thibault Sottiaux offered a concrete make-good: one banked reset for every day without Astra on a paid ChatGPT plan, starting today. He said the team is moving mountains to catch up.
The Verge also flagged safety criticism around the release. Astra’s reasoning is harder to monitor than earlier models, and the launch was delayed by weeks after a Hugging Face agent hack as OpenAI bolstered safety before shipping. Altman has previously said the company “totally screwed up” parts of the GPT-5 rollout — a line that now sits next to another bumpy day-one.
This is a developing access story. The model is live for some. Paying ChatGPT users are still in line.