[DigitalToday intern reporter Seung-a Yoo] OpenAI released GPT-6 Astra on Sept. 3. Early users confirmed strong performance in 3D space reconstruction, game creation and desktop task automation, but rated its writing lower than the previous model.

On Sept. 6 (local time), blockchain outlet Decrypt reported that Astra costs $10 per 1 million input tokens and $50 per 1 million output tokens. That is 2.5 times more expensive than the previous GPT-5.6 Sol model. OpenAI introduced Astra as a model specialized for computer use, coding, research and complex multi-step tasks.

◆ Standing out in 3D and game production

One of Astra's core functions is computer use. It does not stop at guiding how to run something. The model directly operates the mouse and keyboard on an actual desktop to complete tasks. OpenAI said that in the OSWorld 2.0 test, Astra completed 72.6 percent of typical desktop tasks in about 40 minutes per task. GPT-5.6 Sol handled 65.7 percent in about 75 minutes.

Early users highlighted its spatial awareness and visual understanding. Matt Shumer (맷 슈머), a former chief executive of HyperWrite and an investor, recreated Manhattan street by street in Unreal Engine using Astra. Max Weinbach (맥스 와인바흐) shared results of reconstructing a 3D model in Blender based on photos of Apple Park.

An anonymous developer using the name SuSu (수수) created a 3D rendering of Hangzhou, China, and surrounding areas in 24 minutes in a web browser. It included West Lake, Leifeng Pagoda, tea-growing areas and wetlands, along with clickable landmarks and a day-night switch.

Examples of game creation were also shared. Rishi Prasad (리시 프라사드) built the browser-based shooting game "Astral War" in a day. The game includes a 12-person lobby, a multiplayer server, controller support and voice chat. He said visual completeness improved sharply compared with results he made a month earlier using another model.

Japanese illustrator Taiyaki Sun (타이야키 선) tasked Astra with coloring line art he drew himself. Astra used the mouse in Clip Studio Paint to create layers, zoom in and out, select brushes and apply color. The work was done in the maximum compute mode of the $100 Pro plan and consumed 21 percent of usage.

There were results in music as well. Auggie (어기), who runs the newsletter "Augmented Fifth," said Astra received the top score in an unofficial test to write a Bach-style four-part chorale. There were no voice-leading errors and it included a Neapolitan sixth chord. In OpenAI's own evaluation, performance in reading classical sheet music was also much higher than GPT-5.6 Sol.

GPT-6 Astra built this Manhattan world in Unreal Engine over the course of a week. It was literally able to go street by street to make each one perfect. pic.twitter.com/7VTol9QfHq

◆ Writing ability falls short of the previous model

Assessments of its writing were mixed. Louis-Francois Bouchard (루이 프랑수아 부샤르) said Astra ranked 11th with 1,995 Elo in his in-house writing-style benchmark. The previous GPT-5.6 Sol ranked sixth with 2,156 Elo. He rated Astra's output as "surprisingly disappointing."

Giuseppe Paleologo (주세페 팔레올로고), an author on quantitative portfolio management, said he asked Astra for ideas on optimal portfolio diversification but found the answer clichéd and exaggerated, and pointed out that real creativity was still far off. Ingar Haaland (인가르 할란드) said he asked for writing that mimicked his style and passed AI detection tools, but it failed to evade detection.

External evaluations were similar. Artificial Analysis tallied that Astra's score fell by about 80 Elo in GDPval-AA v2, which assesses specialized work with economic value. Performance also slipped slightly in customer support and long-context reasoning. Still, the overall intelligence index had Astra at 61.2 points, ahead of GPT-5.6 Sol at 60.9.

Security capability improved significantly. OpenAI classified Astra as the first of its models to reach the "critical" threshold in cybersecurity. That means it can find unknown software vulnerabilities and develop attack methods even without a human directly identifying vulnerabilities. OpenAI therefore restricted advanced cybersecurity features to the "Daybreak" program.

OpenAI is rolling out Astra sequentially via ChatGPT Plus, Pro, Business and Enterprise, as well as through its API, Microsoft Azure and AWS Bedrock. In enterprise environments, an administrator must activate access permissions directly.

Taken together, early reactions show Astra has strengths in 3D creation, game development and computer tasks where it is easier to verify correct answers, but is rated lower than its predecessor in writing, where style, taste and creativity matter.