OpenAI will publicly launch GPT-5.6, its most advanced AI model, on Thursday after the Trump administration approved the rollout following additional testing and meetings between the company and government officials, Axios reported. The launch comes after a delay last month prompted by U.S. government requests over heightened national security concerns about the potential misuse of powerful AI technologies.
OpenAI said GPT-5.6 Sol, Terra and Luna will launch on Thursday. The company had limited GPT-5.6 access to a small group of vetted partners whose details were shared with the authorities. OpenAI said in an X post late on Tuesday that it would launch its most capable GPT-5.6 Sol, along with the lower-cost Terra and Luna models.
The Strategic Stakes
The United States and China are in a race to develop cutting-edge AI models that experts have said could dramatically accelerate sophisticated cyberattacks in sectors relying on complex, interconnected and often decades-old technology systems. Washington has increased scrutiny of advanced AI model releases to identify potential threats on concerns the technology could be misused by the military or the intelligence establishment in China, Russia and other countries.
OpenAI had previewed the models in late June and said GPT-5.6 Sol was competitive with Anthropic's Mythos Preview on the ExploitBench cybersecurity benchmark. The company touted improved agentic capabilities in coding, biology and cybersecurity. The White House and the U.S. Department of Commerce did not respond to a Reuters request for comment outside regular business hours.
Regulatory Framework Takes Shape
U.S. President Donald Trump has signed an executive order establishing a voluntary framework under which AI developers could provide covered frontier models to the U.S. government for up to 30 days before releasing them to trusted partners. The framework reflects Washington's effort to balance innovation with security concerns as AI capabilities advance rapidly.
OpenAI competitor Anthropic had abruptly disabled its most advanced AI models, Mythos 5 and Fable 5, for all users after the U.S. government's June 12 export control order over national security concerns. The curbs were lifted last week after Anthropic implemented certain safeguards. While Washington has lifted export controls for Anthropic's Fable model, Mythos, which is designed for cybersecurity professionals, is still only available to some trusted U.S. organizations.
The China Factor
Chinese authorities have also held meetings with top tech firms about potentially restricting overseas access to China's most advanced AI models, including those yet to be released. In China, authorities are worried about the potential for Mythos to exploit software vulnerabilities and that the U.S. might deploy the model against Beijing's interests.
Anthropic has warned it was probably impossible to make any AI model fully robust against jailbreaks. Billionaire Elon Musk, whose SpaceXAI rivals Anthropic and OpenAI, said on Wednesday his company was also making its leading model Grok 4.5 available to the public.
Why This Matters:
The Trump administration's approval of GPT-5.6 after security review establishes a precedent for how Washington will manage the release of frontier AI models capable of accelerating cyberattacks. The 30-day voluntary review framework gives U.S. intelligence agencies time to assess whether advanced models could be weaponized by adversaries while preserving American companies' competitive edge in the global AI race. China's parallel moves to restrict its most advanced models overseas signal that both superpowers now view cutting-edge AI as a national security asset requiring export controls. The fact that Anthropic's Mythos remains restricted to trusted U.S. organizations even after broader curbs were lifted shows the government's recognition that certain cybersecurity-focused models pose unique risks. As AI capabilities in coding, biology and cybersecurity continue to advance, the tension between innovation and security will only intensify, with companies caught between commercial imperatives and government demands for pre-release vetting.