OpenAI (NASDAQ:OAI) is expected to publicly unveil its most advanced artificial intelligence model, GPT-5.6, on Thursday after postponing its release last month at the request of the U.S. government amid growing national security concerns.
GPT-5.6 Cleared Following Government Review
The delayed rollout comes as the United States and China continue to compete in the development of increasingly powerful AI systems. Security experts have warned that advanced models could accelerate sophisticated cyberattacks against critical infrastructure and other complex technology networks.
U.S. authorities have intensified oversight of frontier AI systems over concerns they could be exploited by military or intelligence agencies in China, Russia and other countries.
Chinese regulators have also reportedly met with leading technology companies to discuss limiting overseas access to the country’s most advanced AI models, including systems that have yet to be released.
Launch Follows Additional Testing
According to Axios, the Trump administration approved the broader release of GPT-5.6 after OpenAI completed additional testing and held further discussions with U.S. government officials.
Neither the White House nor the U.S. Department of Commerce responded to Reuters’ requests for comment outside normal business hours.
Before the public launch, OpenAI restricted access to GPT-5.6 to a small group of vetted partners whose identities had been shared with government authorities.
The ChatGPT developer also confirmed in a post on X that it will introduce its flagship GPT-5.6 Sol model alongside the more affordable Terra and Luna variants.
AI Competition Intensifies
The announcement follows similar developments at rival AI companies. Anthropic temporarily suspended access to its advanced Mythos 5 and Fable 5 models after a U.S. export control order issued on 12 June, before restoring access last week after implementing additional safeguards.
Meanwhile, billionaire Elon Musk announced on Wednesday that his company, SpaceXAI, is making its flagship Grok 4.5 model publicly available.
National Security Remains a Key Focus
President Donald Trump has signed an executive order establishing a voluntary framework allowing AI developers to submit “covered frontier models” to the U.S. government for review for up to 30 days before making them available to trusted partners.
Although restrictions on Anthropic’s Fable model have since been lifted, Mythos remains accessible only to selected U.S. organisations because of cybersecurity concerns.
Chinese authorities have expressed concerns that Mythos could be used to exploit software vulnerabilities or deployed against Chinese interests.
Anthropic has previously warned that it was “probably impossible” to make any AI model fully robust to jailbreaks.