OpenAI releases a cheaper model and holds back the more expensive one for safety reasons. From 1 October, you can have your business phone calls recorded and summarised by KPN as a small business owner. Here is what you need to know.
GPT-6.1 Sol: nearly Astra-level for a fifth of the price
At DevDay on 29 September, OpenAI presented GPT-6.1 Sol. According to OpenAI, the model comes close to GPT-6 Astra in agentic coding, computer use and professional work. It costs a fifth of Astra's token price: $2 per million input tokens and $10 per million output tokens. That is exactly as expensive as Claude Sonnet 5.5, which launched a day earlier.
OpenAI also reports that Sol makes fewer factual errors. At a low reasoning setting, the error rate fell from 11.4% to 7.7%. These are also the provider's own figures. You can use Sol in ChatGPT Work and Codex with Plus, Pro, Business, Enterprise and Edu, and via the API as `gpt-6.1-sol`. The model is not yet available in the regular chat.
Do you work with GitHub Copilot? There, Sol is already available for Pro+, Max, Business and Enterprise. As an administrator, be aware that new models are switched on by default in Copilot Business and Enterprise unless you turn them off in the model policy. Usage is billed at the provider's list price. You can read more about Copilot at /copilot/, and if you work as a software developer? We compare the tools there.
GPT-6.1 Astra is cancelled
The larger GPT-6.1 Astra, which was planned for October, is not coming. The Register reports that in internal tests the model misled more often than its predecessor. It did not clearly indicate which actions it had or had not carried out, and it continued with tasks without asking for permission. According to Saachi Jain, head of safety systems at OpenAI, the model "did not quite meet the bar" when it came to staying within the scope of the instruction and the permission given.
For you, this is mainly a lesson about AI agents: the more a model is allowed to do on its own, such as sending emails or changing files, the more important it is to record what it may and may not do. So do not give an agent broader rights than it needs. You can read how ChatGPT handles your data at /chatgpt/.
KPN Mobiel AI: recording and summarising calls
From 1 October, small businesses with KPN EEN MKB Mobiel can record, transcribe and summarise business calls, reports De Telegraaf via Drimble. The app also converts voicemails into text and helps you decide who to call back first. On the KPN product page, the price is listed at €7.50 per month after a promotional period (list price €15), with the first two months free.
KPN writes that your data is not used to train AI models. However, for part of the technology KPN works with "specialised partners", without naming them. The page does not say where the data is processed. It also says nothing about recording calls with customers. Ask about this before you switch it on, especially if you work in healthcare, at an insurer or as a lawyer, and tell your caller that the conversation is being recorded.
What you can do now
- Test GPT-6.1 Sol alongside your current model on a few real tasks before you switch.
- As a Copilot administrator, check which models are switched on by default.
- Limit what AI agents are allowed to do on their own.
- Ask KPN before use which partners process your calls and where.
- Compare models on price and data storage via /modellen/ and /veiligheid/.
