OpenAI To Release GPT-5.6 AI Models Thursday

OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT, has announced that it will release its latest GPT-5.6 series of artificial intelligence models to the public on Thursday following reports that the United States government approved a wider rollout.

According to AFP, the GPT-5.6 models, alongside other advanced AI systems such as Anthropic’s Mythos series, have attracted attention over their reported ability to identify vulnerabilities in computer code that could potentially be exploited by hackers.

The development has raised national security concerns, prompting OpenAI in late June to grant early access to GPT-5.6 only to a select group of trusted US-based partners at the request of Washington.

Large language models power ChatGPT and many other AI applications by processing vast amounts of digital information to generate human-like responses and perform complex tasks.

The GPT-5.6 lineup comprises three versions: Sol, the company’s flagship model; Terra, a mid-tier model designed for everyday tasks; and Luna, a faster, lower-cost option aimed at broader accessibility.

“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.

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AFP contacted 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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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.