2026-06-26 11:05:15
The White House has asked OpenAI to limit the release of its upcoming GPT-5.6 artificial intelligence model to a small group of government-approved partners, according to reports.
The request comes amid growing concern in Washington over the capabilities of increasingly powerful AI systems and the absence of a formal regulatory framework governing their release.
According to CNN, the administration considers GPT-5.6 to be comparable in capability to Anthropic’s latest Mythos and Fable models, which were recently withdrawn after the US government imposed export restrictions over cybersecurity concerns.
OpenAI has reportedly agreed to the temporary arrangement as a way to eventually launch the model publicly while discussions continue over how advanced AI should be regulated.
The Information, which first reported the White House request, said OpenAI chief executive Sam Altman informed staff in an internal memo that government officials were approving access to the model “customer by customer”.
According to the publication, Altman wrote: “We’ve made clear to the U.S. government that this is not our preferred long-term model, and will work with them and others in industry to achieve a more sustainable approach for future releases.”
OpenAI declined to comment on the reports.
A White House official told CNN the administration continues “to collaborate with frontier AI labs to develop shared approaches for addressing the challenges of scaling this technology”.
The move follows President Donald Trump’s executive order earlier this month calling on developers of advanced AI systems to voluntarily submit their models for government review 30 days before release.
However, the process has yet to be formally established, leaving uncertainty over which federal agencies are responsible for overseeing frontier AI models.
That lack of clarity has prompted concern among technology experts, particularly after Anthropic was ordered by the Commerce Department to suspend access to its most advanced AI systems.
Brad Carson, head of Public First, a bipartisan pro-AI safety political action committee, said recent events highlighted the need for a transparent regulatory framework.
He told CNN last week: “The Fable episode shows the need for clear regulations. Right now, you have an ad hoc, personalized, opaque, possibly lawless approach.
“It is certainly appropriate for the government to recall dangerous products, including AI models, but it has to be done in a way consistent with transparency and basic fairness.”
The latest developments underscore growing tensions between rapidly advancing AI technology and governments attempting to establish safeguards without slowing innovation.
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