Unconfirmed Reports Surround Grok 4.8;
GPT-6 Astra Reaches the API
The frontier lineup shifted in mid-September: xAI's generational shuffle, OpenAI's move to general availability, and Anthropic's reset of Claude Code limits. Sep 16, 2026
No primary xAI announcement was located. Grok 4.8, the reported shelving of 4.7 and parameter scale remain unconfirmed secondary reporting.
What happened
Across the second and third weeks of September, the U.S. frontier labs moved in quick succession. xAI delayed the launch of Grok 4.7 again and then, on September 13, unveiled its successor Grok 4.8 (reported at roughly 2.5T parameters) instead. OpenAI, meanwhile, expanded access to GPT-6 Astra — announced September 3 — into ChatGPT Work, Codex, and the API, completing its move to general availability.
xAI: 4.7 delayed again, 4.8 unveiled
Musk had said Grok 4.7 would land "in about 10 days" — around September 12 — but on September 11 he announced a further delay for final tweaks. Then, on September 13, he shelved 4.7 and unveiled the larger Grok 4.8 instead, an unusual sequence. As of September 14, reporting from Startup Fortune and Cellcog lists no model ID, pricing, or release date for either model.
- xAI: Grok 4.7 delayed again (Sep 11) → Grok 4.8 (2.5T) unveiled (Sep 13), release date still unset
- OpenAI: GPT-6 Astra now usable in ChatGPT Work / Codex and the API (GA on Sep 4); the vetted "Daybreak" gate for its cyber capability remains
- Anthropic: Claude Code weekly limits settled 17% below current levels on Sep 14 (still 25% above the pre-May baseline)
- Still undated: DeepSeek V4-Pro general availability, and Alibaba's Qwen4 architecture preview
OpenAI: Astra enters the "usable" stage
GPT-6 Astra has finished the rollout that was promised as "coming days" at launch: Pro, Enterprise, and Business Premium users can now use it in ChatGPT Work and Codex, and it is live in the API. Per OpenAI's page and Wikipedia, general availability began on September 4. Pricing holds at $10 / $50 per million tokens (input / output), with the 1.05M-token context window and the vetted-application Daybreak gate for its exploit-generation capability unchanged.
Other moves
At Anthropic, Claude Code's weekly limits settled on schedule on September 14 — 17% below the current level, though still 25% above the pre-May baseline. With agentic coding demand still climbing, limit management is functioning as a de facto price. DeepSeek's V4-Pro general availability and Alibaba's Qwen4 architecture preview (via Qwen3.8-Flash-Next) remain undated. And on September 12, Altman said an OpenAI IPO would not happen in 2026.
The mid-September picture, in short: a showcase of capability (Astra's general availability) advancing at the same time as supply-side opacity (xAI's generational shuffle). The open-weight camp keeps pressing on price and distribution, and we will keep tracking it here.