ak.ones with dtype=strings give unexpected results in assert_arkouda_strings_equal

[ajpotts]

Describe the bug

        from arkouda.testing import assert_arkouda_strings_equal
        assert_arkouda_strings_equal(ak.ones(5, dtype=str), ak.array(['1', '1', '1', '1', '1']))

Results in the following error:

E       AssertionError: Strings are different
E       
E       Strings values are different (100.0 %)
E       [left]:  array(['1', '1', '1', '1', '1'])
E       [right]: array(['1', '1', '1', '1', '1'])

To Reproduce Run:

        from arkouda.testing import assert_arkouda_strings_equal
        assert_arkouda_strings_equal(ak.ones(5, dtype=str), ak.array(['1', '1', '1', '1', '1']))

Expected behavior The example should return True.

Error Message See above

Is this a Blocking Issue No

ak.get_config() Output

{'arkoudaVersion': '2025.09.30+26.g77c374aa3.dirty',
 'chplVersion': '2.6.0',
 'pythonVersion': '3.13',
 'ZMQVersion': '4.3.5',
 'HDF5Version': '1.14.4',
 'serverHostname': 'pop-os',
 'ServerPort': 5555,
 'numLocales': 1,
 'numPUs': 8,
 'maxTaskPar': 8,
 'physicalMemory': 67253772288,
 'distributionType': 'domain(1,int(64),one)',
 'LocaleConfigs': [{'id': 0,
   'name': 'pop-os',
   'numPUs': 8,
   'maxTaskPar': 8,
   'physicalMemory': 67253772288}],
 'authenticate': False,
 'logLevel': 'INFO',
 'logChannel': 'CONSOLE',
 'regexMaxCaptures': 20,
 'byteorder': 'little',
 'autoShutdown': False,
 'serverInfoNoSplash': False,
 'ARROW_VERSION': '19.0.1'}

Additional context N/A

[ajpotts]

Even stranger:

In [11]: t1 = ak.ones(5, dtype=str)

In [12]: t2 = ak.array(['1', '1', '1', '1', '1'])

In [13]: t1[0]
Out[13]: np.str_('1')

In [14]: t2[0]
Out[14]: np.str_('1')

In [15]: t1[0] == t2[0]
Out[15]: True

In [16]: t1 == t1
Out[16]: array([True True True True True])

In [17]: t2 == t2
Out[17]: array([True True True True True])

In [18]: t1 == t2
Out[18]: array([False False False False False])