Breaking

US Government Asks OpenAI to Delay Wide Release of GPT-5.6

June 25, 2026 at 19:37 EDT

Policy & Regulation
Foundation Models
Security

The Trump administration has asked OpenAI to delay the broad public release of its new model, GPT-5.6, and to limit it to a preview for select partners approved by the government. Safety reviews tied to the model's cyber capabilities are behind the request.

June 25, 2026 · OpenAI

White House Asks OpenAI to Slow-Roll the Release of GPT-5.6

The newest model is expected to reach only a small set of "close partners" first — not the public — over safety concerns. The government would approve access customer by customer during the preview, with a wider release planned within a few weeks.

1.5M

token context window — said to be 43% larger than GPT-5.5

10–15%

reported gains in agentic workflows and token efficiency

50+

partners in rival Anthropic's staggered Project Glasswing rollout

Context window, to scale

GPT-5.6 vs its predecessor — same unit, drawn proportionally.

~1.05M

GPT-5.5

1.5M

GPT-5.6

+43% more context — a "meaningful improvement," per leaks. Official specs remain undisclosed.

How the release is gated

Government review
Submit model for evaluation (June 2026 Executive Order)

→

Close partners only
Approved access "customer by customer" during preview

→

Public release
Wider launch in a few weeks if the rollout goes smoothly

Supportive view

A practice of responsible AI — a careful, safety-minded staggered release that echoes rivals' approaches.

Critical view

Risk of lost competitiveness and slowed innovation from delayed, restricted access.

Continue reading

The rest of this article is for AI News Blitz readers. Choose an option below to keep reading.