Trump Administration Asks OpenAI to Limit Release of GPT-5.6 Model The Trump administration’s move to slow the rollout of OpenAI’s next major AI model, GPT‑5.6, has set up a new clash between ambitions for rapid AI innovation and fears about national security risks.

OpenAI’s release plan for GPT‑5.6 began to shift earlier this week. Instead of a broad public launch, the company now intends to share the system only with “a select group of close partners” after the White House asked it to “slow roll the release of its new model over safety concerns.” According to reporting on an internal staff meeting, CEO Sam Altman told employees that federal officials would be “approving access customer by customer” during an initial preview period, with a wider release possible “a couple of weeks later” if the trial phase goes smoothly.

By Thursday, details of the government’s role had come into sharper focus. The Trump administration, “apprehensive of potential security issues,” requested that OpenAI “stagger the release” of GPT‑5.6, with access in the preview phase limited to “a small group of enterprise customers” and approved by the government on a case‑by‑case basis. This approach is notably softer than the export‑control directive imposed on Anthropic, which was ordered to suspend access to its Mythos 5 and Fable 5 models and block “foreign nationals” from using them, including some of its own staff.

Another account framed the step as a first for U.S. AI oversight. The White House’s cyber and science offices asked that GPT‑5.6 be limited initially to “a small set of government‑approved partners,” marking “the first time the U.S. government has preemptively asked an American AI company to restrict the launch of a model before release.” In a memo referenced in that reporting, Altman said, “We’ve made clear to the U.S. government that this is not our preferred long term model, and will work with them and others in industry to achieve a more sustainable approach for future releases.”

The administration argues that GPT‑5.6 has “Mythos‑like” capabilities and belongs to a class of “models of that caliber” that warrant extra safeguards, even as it maintains a broader “speed wins” posture toward AI and promotes U.S. AI exports. Industry critics, however, see an uneven and rapidly evolving regime where some companies face strict export controls while others negotiate more flexible, case‑by‑case gatekeeping.

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