White House Pressures OpenAI to Limit GPT 5.6 Release

The Trump administration has asked OpenAI to restrict the release of its newest model, GPT 5.6, to a select group of partners rather than the general public. CEO Sam Altman told staff the government would approve access customer by customer, with a broader release potentially following weeks later. The move mirrors Anthropic's voluntary approach with its powerful Claude Mythos model, which was similarly limited over cybersecurity concerns. The Office of the National Cyber Director and Office of Science and Technology Policy requested the limited rollout, marking a shift from the administration's earlier hands-off stance on AI regulation.