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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
AFP has contacted OpenAI, the White House and the US Department of Commerce for comment on the Axios report.
It follows a similar story at OpenAI’s archrival, Anthropic, the startup behind the Claude chatbot.
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