OpenAI admits GPT-5.6 occasionally deletes files – but it's an 'honest mistake'
AI and ML
Data purges deemed an example of 'misaligned behavior' that upstart is working to avoid
OpenAI has confirmed reports that GPT-5.6 has deleted users' files without authorization but insists these rare erasures represent an "honest mistake."
Following the release of OpenAI's GPT‑5.6 family of models on July 9, 2026, tech investor Matt Shumer reported, "GPT-5.6-Sol just accidentally deleted almost ALL of my Mac's files."
A few days later, software engineer Bruno Lemos said, "GPT-5.6 Sol just deleted my whole production database. That's it. Not a joke. This had never happened to me before, with any other model, ever. It's not safe."
Ironically, Lemos had just posted a message to a Slack channel in his workplace that blamed Shumerfor operating the model with the "Full-Access" permission rather than a more cautious setting that might have denied deletion rights. As he wrote, "The irony: Someone posted...
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