ChatGPT Astra now rolling out to $20 Plus subscribers

OpenAI's GPT-6 Astra, the company's most advanced AI model to date, is now rolling out to $20 ChatGPT Plus subscribers after launching on September 3 to a limited set of organizations and higher-tier plans. The model, which OpenAI has called "the most intelligent and aligned model in the world," represents a full version jump from GPT-5.6 Sol and marks a new frontier in AI-driven computer use.bleepingcomputer+3

What Astra Can Do

Astra's headline capability is computer use — the ability to navigate software, browse the web, and operate programs on a user's behalf without requiring an API. OpenAI cofounder Greg Brockman said in a press briefing that computer use "has crossed the qualitative threshold," describing it as "very accurate, efficient, and reliable". Demonstrations have shown the model researching topics online, writing scripts, and operating 3D modeling software like Blender autonomously.taekim.substack

On benchmarks, Astra posted 99.9% on ARC-AGI-3 in its memory-retaining Adapter Harness mode, compared to 7.8% for GPT-5.6 and 30.2% for Anthropic's Claude Opus 5. It also scored 98% on FrontierMath Tier 4 and 100% on ExploitBench, a cybersecurity benchmark that tests the ability to develop working exploits from known vulnerabilities. That last result led OpenAI to rate Astra as its first model at the "critical" level for cybersecurity risk, prompting a gated rollout of its most sensitive capabilities.chosun+3

Rollout and Access

The staged rollout began September 3 with select organizations, then expanded to Pro, Enterprise, and Business Premium users through ChatGPT Work and Codex. As of this weekend, Astra is appearing for Plus subscribers, though access remains uneven — some users report seeing it in ChatGPT Work before regular Chat. OpenAI said in a post on X that "it might take a few days to roll out to our Plus and Business users". Free-tier users have no announced access to Astra.the-decoder+2

The model is also available through the OpenAI API, Microsoft ↘ 2.04% Azure, and Amazon Amazon.com, Inc. ↘ 0.15% Bedrock, priced at $10 per million input tokens and $50 per million output tokens — roughly 2.5 times the cost of GPT-5.6 Sol.yottalabs+1

Not Without Controversy

The launch has drawn both excitement and criticism. The Chosun Ilbo reported that ARC Prize's benchmark results underscore that memory retention, not just raw model size, drives performance — a finding with broad implications for the semiconductor and AI infrastructure industries. Meanwhile, traditional Blender users and creatives have pushed back against OpenAI's marketing video, which depicted a solitary user delegating 3D modeling and game development entirely to Astra. The artist behind Blender 5.2's splash screen expressed "disgust" at seeing her work appear in the ad. Early testers also note that despite the benchmarks, Astra still hallucinates and can ignore instructions, raising questions about whether the "close to AGI" framing is premature.creativebloq+2