WASHINGTON (TNND) — OpenAI will limit the launch of its newest artificial intelligence model at the Trump administration’s request, according to a report.
The latest model, GPT-5.6, will be available only to a small group of U.S. companies and organizations approved by the Trump administration, two anonymous sources told Politico on Thursday. Details about GPT-5.6 have yet to be publicly released.
OpenAI didn’t initially plan to restrict the release of the general-use model, but did so after the White House requested it and a consultation with the Office of Science and Technology Policy and the Office of the National Cyber Director, according to the two sources.
A leaked memo from OpenAI CEO Sam Altman to staff on Thursday said that while the limited release was not the “preferred” method for announcing its latest AI model, the company was hopeful it could work with the government to develop a more “sustainable” approach to unveiling its future model iterations, The Information reported.
The White House told Politico that it “continues to collaborate with frontier AI labs to develop shared approaches for addressing the challenges of scaling this technology.”
OpenAI did not immediately respond to the news outlet’s request for comment.
The White House began regulating AI earlier this month, when President Trump signed an executive order to manage the release of powerful new AI models with advanced hacking capabilities.
The order came about because of OpenAI competitor Anthropic’s most advanced model, Claude Mythos, which was made available only to a select group of trusted researchers and cybersecurity companies. This was because of Anthropic’s concern that the model could be used to launch major cyberattacks if it fell into the wrong hands.
OpenAI similarly released its most cyber-capable model, GPT-5.5-Cyber, to a small number of companies and organizations.
The executive order requests that companies voluntarily submit models to the government for review 30 days before their planned release. The vetting period is meant to allow federal agencies to gauge what threats the products may pose to sensitive financial, national security, and other critical systems.
The White House is still working out the details of how models will be evaluated and which models need to be reviewed with the companies over the next several weeks, as directed by the executive order.
The administration’s oversight in the rollout of new AI models comes as it spars with Anthropic over its newest model, Fable 5. Anthropic was forced to pull Fable 5 just days after its public release over concerns that its guardrails were less secure than the company had suggested.