September 4 Members Morning Brief: OpenAI Launches GPT-6 Astra, USD/JPY Plunges Sharply

1. 【OpenAI launches GPT-6 Astra】On September 3 local time, OpenAI released its most powerful model to date, GPT-6 Astra, calling it “the world’s most intelligent and best-aligned model.” Access is initially limited to a small batch of clients. Company president Greg Brockman said before the release that Astra “can do almost anything a human can do on a computer.” Astra’s core feature is its “computer operation” capability. It is designed to use software like a human—executing multi-step workflows across browsers, spreadsheets, websites, and desktop applications, directly producing finished documents and presentations, instead of just telling users what to do. However, the problem is that it cannot be openly used now because it could be exploited for hacking attacks. According to OpenAI's internal risk assessment, this reached the highest-level red line for the first time in history. So, unlike previous models, it can’t be released all at once to everyone, but is first made available to a few professional cybersecurity organizations, while regular paying users will have to wait a few more days.

2. 【USD/JPY falls sharply】The US dollar against the Japanese yen dropped sharply on Thursday. During New York trading, it touched 155.34, the lowest in over a month, plunging about 2.1% from Wednesday’s close. The direct catalyst for this move came from the Bank of Japan’s hawkish policy shift. Overnight swap indexes have now fully priced in a 25 basis point rate hike at the September meeting.

3. 【Nvidia acquires Hugging Face for $13 billion】On Thursday, Nvidia announced it will acquire open-source AI platform Hugging Face for approximately $12.93 billion. About $11.9 billion will be paid to shareholders, and another $1 billion in equity is reserved to retain employees joining Nvidia. The deal is expected to close in the first half of 2027. According to some reports, this is one of Nvidia's largest acquisitions ever, far exceeding the previous record of around $7 billion for Mellanox in 2020. Hugging Face is considered the “GitHub of open-source AI.” The platform hosts over 3 million models, with more than 18 million developers and over 200,000 enterprises discovering and deploying AI there, along with about 500,000 datasets. It has long positioned itself as the “Switzerland of AI,” emphasizing neutrality toward all chips and models.

4. 【Iran issues "large-scale" retaliation warning】Reuters reported on September 3, citing three informed sources, that Iran sent a warning to the US via Oman last month: if Israel launches a full-scale attack on the Ali al-Taher ridge in southern Lebanon, it would trigger massive retaliation from Iran. Reportedly, more than a dozen Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps personnel, including at least two senior officers, are trapped in the ridge’s underground facility, surrounded by Israeli forces together with Hezbollah fighters. Over the past week, Israeli drones have struck targets on the ridge, cutting off external supplies, leaving those trapped without water or food. Israeli forces have taken control of large areas south of the ridge and publicly listed it as one of their “primary operational targets.”

5. 【US August ISM Services PMI hits highest since February】The Institute for Supply Management (ISM) announced on Thursday that the August Services PMI rose 1.3 percentage points month-over-month to 55.4, beating market expectations of 54.3. This is the highest level since February this year and marks the 26th consecutive month of expansion in the sector.