# OpenAI reports Basis’s faster tax-workbook test with GPT-6 Astra [Canonical reading](https://escapemeridian.com/readings/openai-reports-basis-s-faster-tax-workbook-test-with-gpt-6-astra-13c5b1a2) OpenAI’s page, dated September 28, 2026, reports Basis’s comparison of GPT-6 Astra and GPT-5.6 Sol on a complicated tax workbook with 50 tabs. Basis says GPT-6 Astra completed it in half the time in its test. Basis also reports about a 20% improvement in internal evaluation scores, assessing agents’ work and final answers, including template-following, use of primary sources for tax questions, and checking their work. Basis attributes the gains to better understanding of user intent, including when to ask questions and flag assumptions, and says the model can infer expectations from broader context with fewer explicit instructions. The page says this gives Basis more confidence its agents can handle situations beyond internal tests; it does not report results from those situations. Basis also says adjusting reasoning effort during a task helps reduce cost and response time, but provides no measurements for those effects. The evidence describes a potential change in accountants’ work, but does not report changes to jobs or time spent on other tasks. Headline and summary by Escape Meridian, prepared by Luna from the attributed source. A source check is not independent confirmation of the source’s claims. ## Original source OpenAI · Article Original source date: Sep 28, 2026 (2026-09-28T00:00:00.000Z). Date basis: Date supplied by the publisher’s feed. Added to Escape Meridian: 2026-11-11T05:58:24.254Z. First observed: 2026-09-28T21:16:56.254Z. Retrieved: 2026-11-11T04:37:46.889Z. - [Basis completes a tax workbook 2x faster with GPT-6 Astra](https://openai.com/index/basis-tax-workbook-with-astra) ## Limits Text as retrieved on November 11, 2026; originally published September 28, 2026. This is an archived copy. The page gives no detailed methodology, baseline, or independent assessment for the workbook test or internal evaluation scores. The page reports confidence about performance beyond internal tests, but gives no results from those situations. ## Open question How were Basis’s workbook and internal evaluations designed, and do the reported gains carry over to accounting work beyond those tests? ## Source-stated OpenAI reports that Basis found GPT-6 Astra completed a 50-tab tax workbook in half the time of GPT-5.6 Sol in Basis’s test. > 50% > Less time to complete a 50-tab tax workbook vs. Sol in Basis’s test. - [Supporting source](https://openai.com/index/basis-tax-workbook-with-astra) ## Source-stated OpenAI says Basis saw about a 20% improvement in its internal evaluation scores with GPT-6 Astra. > Basis saw about a 20% improvement in its internal evaluation scores with GPT‑6 Astra - [Supporting source](https://openai.com/index/basis-tax-workbook-with-astra) ## Source-stated Basis says its evaluations include whether agents follow templates, consult primary sources for tax questions, and check their own work. > Basis evaluates how its agents work and their final answers, including whether they follow templates, consult primary sources for tax questions, and check their own work. - [Supporting source](https://openai.com/index/basis-tax-workbook-with-astra) ## Source-stated Basis says GPT-6 Astra’s adjustments to reasoning effort help reduce cost and response time for long-running tasks. > Troyanovsky says this helps reduce cost and response time, making long-running tasks more economical for Basis and its customers. - [Supporting source](https://openai.com/index/basis-tax-workbook-with-astra) ## Source-stated Basis says its internal results give the team more confidence its agents can handle situations beyond those covered in internal tests. > That reduces the need for Basis to write rules for individual situations and gives the team more confidence that its agents can handle situations beyond those covered in internal tests. - [Supporting source](https://openai.com/index/basis-tax-workbook-with-astra) ## Source and contributor context OpenAI · Publisher The publisher is identified here. No individual author has been inferred. ## Source media Media retrieval status: unchecked. ## Terms and references Reference context selected by Escape Meridian; separate from source evidence. Entity mentions do not establish authorship, involvement or endorsement. ## OpenAI OpenAI develops AI models and products and publishes research, release announcements and evaluations. - [Explore this context](/entities/openai) - [Reference](https://openai.com/news/) ## TIME TIME is a news magazine publishing reporting on world affairs, business, technology and the workers behind digital services. - [Explore this context](/entities/time) - [Reference](https://time.com/) ## Editorial provenance Version 1. Publication ID: cb2a832d-d4aa-11a8-8402-417ae71edc0f. Prepared by openai/gpt-6-luna; grounding review by anthropic/claude-opus-5.5. Source check: uncertain by anthropic/claude-opus-5.5 on 2026-11-11T05:53:55.094Z. This checks fidelity to the source, not whether its claims are independently true. Editorial selection: accept; reasons: bridge\_admitted\_by\_model, second\_opinion\_categorical. Observation: 69259449b4d0257e9a8333d938d8cac4fc9982cd363931061c2c8f0d55b178e6. Source text hash: 09bdd07480229d666178e6a06215142831169517e9a88e40490a3590349faac0. ## Revision and source-check history ### Version 1 — 2026-11-11T05:58:24.254Z OpenAI’s page, dated September 28, 2026, reports Basis’s comparison of GPT-6 Astra and GPT-5.6 Sol on a complicated tax workbook with 50 tabs. Basis says GPT-6 Astra completed it in half the time in its test. Basis also reports about a 20% improvement in internal evaluation scores, assessing agents’ work and final answers, including template-following, use of primary sources for tax questions, and checking their work. Basis attributes the gains to better understanding of user intent, including when to ask questions and flag assumptions, and says the model can infer expectations from broader context with fewer explicit instructions. The page says this gives Basis more confidence its agents can handle situations beyond internal tests; it does not report results from those situations. Basis also says adjusting reasoning effort during a task helps reduce cost and response time, but provides no measurements for those effects. The evidence describes a potential change in accountants’ work, but does not report changes to jobs or time spent on other tasks. ## Original source OpenAI · Article Original source date: Sep 28, 2026 (2026-09-28T00:00:00.000Z). Date basis: Date supplied by the publisher’s feed. Added to Escape Meridian: 2026-11-11T05:58:24.254Z. First observed: 2026-09-28T21:16:56.254Z. Retrieved: 2026-11-11T04:37:46.889Z. - [Basis completes a tax workbook 2x faster with GPT-6 Astra](https://openai.com/index/basis-tax-workbook-with-astra) ## Limits Text as retrieved on November 11, 2026; originally published September 28, 2026. This is an archived copy. The page gives no detailed methodology, baseline, or independent assessment for the workbook test or internal evaluation scores. The page reports confidence about performance beyond internal tests, but gives no results from those situations. ## Open question How were Basis’s workbook and internal evaluations designed, and do the reported gains carry over to accounting work beyond those tests? ## Source-stated OpenAI reports that Basis found GPT-6 Astra completed a 50-tab tax workbook in half the time of GPT-5.6 Sol in Basis’s test. > 50% > Less time to complete a 50-tab tax workbook vs. Sol in Basis’s test. - [Supporting source](https://openai.com/index/basis-tax-workbook-with-astra) ## Source-stated OpenAI says Basis saw about a 20% improvement in its internal evaluation scores with GPT-6 Astra. > Basis saw about a 20% improvement in its internal evaluation scores with GPT‑6 Astra - [Supporting source](https://openai.com/index/basis-tax-workbook-with-astra) ## Source-stated Basis says its evaluations include whether agents follow templates, consult primary sources for tax questions, and check their own work. > Basis evaluates how its agents work and their final answers, including whether they follow templates, consult primary sources for tax questions, and check their own work. - [Supporting source](https://openai.com/index/basis-tax-workbook-with-astra) ## Source-stated Basis says GPT-6 Astra’s adjustments to reasoning effort help reduce cost and response time for long-running tasks. > Troyanovsky says this helps reduce cost and response time, making long-running tasks more economical for Basis and its customers. - [Supporting source](https://openai.com/index/basis-tax-workbook-with-astra) ## Source-stated Basis says its internal results give the team more confidence its agents can handle situations beyond those covered in internal tests. > That reduces the need for Basis to write rules for individual situations and gives the team more confidence that its agents can handle situations beyond those covered in internal tests. - [Supporting source](https://openai.com/index/basis-tax-workbook-with-astra) ## Source and contributor context OpenAI · Publisher The publisher is identified here. No individual author has been inferred. ## Source media Media retrieval status: unchecked. ## Terms and references Reference context selected by Escape Meridian; separate from source evidence. Entity mentions do not establish authorship, involvement or endorsement. ## OpenAI OpenAI develops AI models and products and publishes research, release announcements and evaluations. - [Explore this context](/entities/openai) - [Reference](https://openai.com/news/) ## TIME TIME is a news magazine publishing reporting on world affairs, business, technology and the workers behind digital services. - [Explore this context](/entities/time) - [Reference](https://time.com/) ## Editorial provenance Version 1. Publication ID: cb2a832d-d4aa-11a8-8402-417ae71edc0f. Prepared by openai/gpt-6-luna; grounding review by anthropic/claude-opus-5.5. Source check: uncertain by anthropic/claude-opus-5.5 on 2026-11-11T05:53:55.094Z. This checks fidelity to the source, not whether its claims are independently true. Editorial selection: accept; reasons: bridge\_admitted\_by\_model, second\_opinion\_categorical. Observation: 69259449b4d0257e9a8333d938d8cac4fc9982cd363931061c2c8f0d55b178e6. Source text hash: 09bdd07480229d666178e6a06215142831169517e9a88e40490a3590349faac0. ### uncertain — 2026-11-11T05:53:55.094Z — anthropic/claude-opus-5.5 Publication: cb2a832d-d4aa-11a8-8402-417ae71edc0f attribution — pass: This is a single OpenAI customer case study about Basis. The reading attributes claims to OpenAI's page, to Basis, and implicitly to co-founder Troyanovsky's statements. It does not present them as established facts. > “GPT-6 Astra is able to complete that workbook in half the time that GPT-5.6 Sol is able to.” summary — uncertain: The reading never says who Basis is: a startup that builds AI agents to automate accountants' manual work. Without that, a general reader cannot see why a tax workbook test matters, or why the closing sentence turns to accountants' work. 'Agents' is also central and unexplained, and no definitions are supplied. Smallest repair: add one sentence identifying Basis and briefly explaining what an AI agent is here. The reading's treatment of the product stays with claimed effects and remains attributed, so it does not read as promotion. > Basis⁠(opens in a new window) builds AI agents to automate much of the manual work that accountants do each day date — pass: The page dateline, September 28, 2026, matches originalPublished, which is stated at day precision. The archive copy is disclosed in the limitations. The 'Keep reading' items dated Sep 29, 2026 are probably later page additions; the reading neither uses nor relies on them. There is no hindsight framing. > September 28, 2026 Basis completes a tax workbook 2x faster with GPT‑6 Astra support — pass: Each claim matches the source: the 50-tab workbook finished in half the time, the roughly 20% gain in internal evaluation scores, the evaluation criteria, the cost and latency claim for adjusting reasoning effort, and the stated confidence beyond internal tests. The caveats about missing methodology, measurements and real-world results are accurate. The cautious closing about accountants' jobs adds nothing unsupported. > Basis saw about a 20% improvement in its internal evaluation scores with GPT‑6 Astra, driven by better understanding of user intent media — pass: No media candidates were supplied and none was selected, which is appropriate. ## Recorded references Explicit citations in public readings and public file attachments to this reading. Shared topics are not citations. Other artifact types need an explicit reference adapter. No public references recorded here yet. [Reference data (JSON)](/readings/13c5b1a27c9260c0c84d0ec4b2bcf9a37cd4c05538b41e547b29fceb0bdb4f90/references.json) ## Corrections and challenges [Send a correction or an opposing source](https://escapemeridian.com/corrections/) [JSON record](https://escapemeridian.com/readings/openai-reports-basis-s-faster-tax-workbook-test-with-gpt-6-astra-13c5b1a2.json)