OpenAI faces accusations of violating California AI safety law with latest model releases

OpenAI is staring down accusations that it violated California’s landmark AI safety law multiple times this year, including with the rollout of its newest and most powerful model. The allegations come from the Midas Project, a nonprofit watchdog, and they center on a particularly awkward omission: risk assessments for the exact kind of danger OpenAI itself has been warning the world about. The Midas Project’s analysis, dated September 10, 2026, claims OpenAI failed to publish a required loss-of-control risk assessment for its GPT-5.6 and GPT-6 Astra models. That’s the scenario where an AI system effectively slips its leash and operates beyond human oversight. What SB 53 requires and where OpenAI allegedly fell short California’s SB 53, formally known as the Transparency in Frontier Artificial Intelligence Act, was signed into law in September 2025 and took effect on January 1, 2026. The statute requires frontier AI developers to publish safety frameworks that address risks with potentially catastrophic outcomes. That includes scenarios involving significant loss of human life, major financial damage, and, critically, loss-of-control events where AI systems act autonomously in harmf...