OpenAI has reportedly received a regulatory go-ahead in the United States for a wider release of its GPT-5.6 model, according to Axios, which cited a person familiar with the matter. The report said the company could begin rolling out the model as soon as this week after additional testing and meetings with government officials.
The White House pushed back on that account, telling CNBC that it had not granted OpenAI any “green light, approval or clearance” for a model release. It added that decisions on whether to launch AI systems remain with the companies themselves. OpenAI also said it plans a broad release of GPT-5.6 but has not announced a public launch date.
Broader scrutiny of frontier AI
The Axios report comes after OpenAI introduced three new models late last month and initially limited access to a small group of trusted partners while it worked to satisfy federal oversight requirements. In a blog post, the company said it expected the models — GPT-5.6 Sol, Terra and Luna — to become generally available in the coming weeks.
The reported move reflects a more interventionist approach by the Trump administration toward advanced AI systems, with officials seeking to review model capabilities before full release. The article also noted that Anthropic recently faced a temporary suspension of its Claude Fable 5 and Mythos 5 models before restrictions were lifted last week, while Chinese companies have continued pushing out more accessible alternatives during the regulatory pause.
Source: cnbc.com
