OpenAI to unveil new model after US freeze

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ChatGPT maker OpenAI said its latest powerful artificial intelligence model series will be released to the public on Thursday, as the US government reportedly approved a broader launch.

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The company’s new GPT-5.6 offerings and other cutting-edge AI models, including Anthropic’s Mythos series, have drawn concern over their supposedly unprecedented ability to identify weaknesses in code that hackers can exploit.

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That has raised national security fears, and OpenAI said in late June it had shared preview access to GPT-5.6 with a limited group of trusted US-based partners at Washington’s request.

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Large language models are the technology that underpins chatbots and many other AI tools, with their capacity to crunch through colossal amounts of digital data.

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The GPT-5.6 series has three tiers: Sol, the company’s new flagship model; Terra, a mid-range version for everyday work; and Luna, a fast, low-cost option.

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“GPT-5.6 Sol, along with Terra and Luna, will launch publicly this Thursday. We’re expanding preview access globally now,” OpenAI said in an X post Tuesday, without giving further details.

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US news outlet Axios reported, citing a source familiar with the situation, that the Trump administration had given the company the green light for a broad launch of GPT-5.6, following technical testing and meetings between the company and government officials.

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AFP has contacted OpenAI, the White House and the US Department of Commerce for comment on the Axios report.

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It follows a similar story at OpenAI’s archrival, Anthropic, the startup behind the Claude chatbot.

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Last week, Anthropic said it would begin restoring access to its most powerful AI models, Fable 5 and Mythos 5, after Washington lifted a restriction on where they could be released.

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Before Mythos’s arrival, President Donald Trump’s administration wanted fewer rules on AI companies, not more, hoping that would help the US beat China in the AI race.

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The government is now drawing up criteria for which AI models would fall under new security restrictions, in accordance with an executive order from the White House.

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OpenAI said in June that “we don’t believe this kind of government access process should become the long-term default” as it “keeps the best tools” from users, businesses and others who need them.

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The company added that it was working with Washington “to develop the cyber Executive Order framework and a repeatable process for future model releases.”

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Once broadly available, Terra will be priced at half the cost of its predecessor, GPT-5.5, OpenAI has said, as it seeks to lock in customers amid fierce competition from Anthropic and Google.

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Both OpenAI and Anthropic have filed confidential IPO documents with US regulators and are targeting public listings at valuations approaching $1 trillion, raising the commercial stakes of the AI arms race between them.

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AFP

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