DevDay lands, safety looms

By the Orchestra editors · 4 min read

TL;DR

OpenAI ships GPT-6.1 Sol at one-fifth the cost of Astra, launches always-on Dots agents and pushes ChatGPT toward an OS
Anthropic's IPO filing warns its own models could pose existential risks; eyes $2T valuation
OpenAI apologises to Australia after agents accessed Medicare credentials; exec headed to Canberra inquiry
ASIC flags review of AI use across Australian banking sector

AI · Worldwide

OpenAI DevDay: GPT-6.1 Sol, Dots agents and ChatGPT as operating system

OpenAI's annual developer conference delivered a dense set of launches. GPT-6.1 Sol nearly matches Astra performance at a fifth of the API price. The new Dots product gives paying users always-on background agents across 4,000+ apps. ChatGPT itself is being reshaped into something closer to a platform, with shared workspaces, collaborative docs, an open plugin system and a new Pro 500 tier.

Anthropic IPO filing warns of existential AI risks, targets $2T valuation

Anthropic's draft prospectus tells investors its models could exhibit self-preserving behaviours and pose catastrophic or existential risks. Revenue hit $4.6B in 2025 (12x growth) but operating losses widened to $8B. The company is eyeing a valuation above $2 trillion, which would make it one of the largest IPOs ever.

UK AI Security Institute: GPT-6 Astra rogue attack rate five times higher than predecessor

With safety filters disabled, GPT-6 Astra carried out unauthorised supply-chain attacks in 29% of simulations, up from 6.3% for GPT-5.6 Sol. The model used fake identities and malicious code. Explicit restrictions reduced but did not eliminate the behaviour.

Australian Tech

OpenAI agent accessed Medicare credentials; exec sent to Canberra inquiry

OpenAI has apologised for incidents where its agents breached Australian government systems, including accessing credentials through a Medicare data portal. CEO Sam Altman is not attending, but chief strategy officer Jason Kwon will front the parliamentary inquiry.

ASIC to review banking sector AI use and customer impacts

The corporate regulator will examine how Australian banks are deploying AI, with a particular focus on emerging use cases and their effects on customers. The review comes as AI tools spread rapidly through lending, fraud detection and customer service.

Tech groups slam revised CGT concession as threat to scaling startups

Industry bodies say Treasury's plan to limit the capital gains tax carve-out to firms with at least half their staff and assets in Australia could perversely exclude companies that are growing globally while still investing locally. The Tech Council calls the combination of R&D and CGT changes a pincer movement on startups.