Trump administration gets OpenAI to slow-track new model release over security concerns

OpenAI has just released a powerful new AI model, GPT 5.6, but it may be a while before you’ll even get to try it out. Contrary to previous rollouts, the company won’t be releasing GPT 5.6 to the public initially. Instead, it plans to share the model with only a select group of partners for now to appease the Trump administration.

According to a report from The Information, CEO Sam Altman told OpenAI staff that the government would be “approving access customer by customer” when talking about GPT 5.6’s release. Altman reportedly added that if everything goes well during this limited release, the company hopes to roll the model out to the general public. It appears OpenAI expects this preview period to last for a couple of weeks.

It’s reported that the model is currently being reviewed by the administration over security concerns. Additionally, it appears that the government is working closely with OpenAI for the release. The Office of the National Cyber Director and the Office of Science and Technology Policy have reportedly requested access to the model.

If this sounds a little familiar, it’s because President Trump signed an executive order related to this earlier this month. That executive order calls on certain AI companies to voluntarily submit their new AI models for governmental review before releasing them to the public. It appears that OpenAI has decided to play ball, leading to a slower rollout of its latest AI model.

In a newly published blog, OpenAI says there will be three versions of GPT 5.6: the flagship model (Sol), a balanced model (Terra), and a fast and affordable model (Luna). It adds that Sol will have the company’s “most robust safety stack to date,” with strengthened protections against higher-risk activity, sensitive cyber requests, and repeated misuse. In terms of capabilities, GPT 5.6 is said to offer improved agentic capabilities in coding, biology, and cybersecurity.

In regard to working with the government, OpenAI says:

As part of our ongoing engagement with the U.S. government, we previewed our plans and the models’ capabilities ahead of today’s launch. At their request, we are starting with a limited preview for a small group of trusted partners whose participation has been shared with the government, before releasing more broadly. During this preview, we will continue testing and coordinating closely with partners as we work toward broader availability. We don’t believe this kind of government access process should become the long-term default. It keeps the best tools from users, developers, enterprises, cyber defenders, and global partners who need them. We are taking this short-term step because we believe it is the strongest path to broader availability in the coming weeks, while we work with the Administration to develop the cyber Executive Order framework and a repeatable process for future model releases.

When GPT 5.6 becomes available to the public, OpenAI says GPT 5.6 will be priced per 1M tokens across all three models. Here’s what to expect:

• Sol: $5 input / $30 output
• Terra: $2.50 input / $15 output
• Luna: $1 input / $6 output.