The U.S. government has asked OpenAI to limit access to its upcoming GPT-5.6 artificial intelligence model to a small group of government-approved partners, according to a CNN report citing a source familiar with the discussions.
The request follows the Trump administration’s recent export control order targeting AI company Anthropic, which resulted in the withdrawal of its most advanced models, Mythos and Fable, from public access over concerns about their cybersecurity capabilities.
According to the report, U.S. officials consider GPT-5.6 to be comparable in capability to Anthropic’s Mythos model.
OpenAI agrees to limited rollout
OpenAI has agreed to the government’s request, with Chief Executive Officer Sam Altman informing employees in an internal memo that access to GPT-5.6 would be approved on a customer-by-customer basis.
Altman, however, acknowledged that the arrangement is not a viable long-term solution and said the company is working with U.S. authorities and industry stakeholders to establish a more sustainable framework for future AI releases.
“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,” Altman said in the memo, according to CNN.
A White House official told CNN that the administration continues to work with frontier AI developers to create common approaches for managing the risks associated with increasingly powerful AI systems. OpenAI declined to comment publicly.
Regulatory Uncertainty
The request has highlighted the absence of a comprehensive regulatory framework governing frontier AI models in the United States.
Earlier this month, President Donald Trump signed an executive order asking companies developing advanced AI systems to voluntarily submit their models for government review 30 days before public release. However, procedures for implementing the order have yet to be established.
The situation has also exposed uncertainty over which federal agency has primary responsibility for AI oversight. While the White House requested restrictions on OpenAI’s GPT-5.6, the Commerce Department issued the export control order affecting Anthropic, creating an uneven regulatory environment.
Brad Carson, president of Public First, a bipartisan AI safety organisation, said recent developments demonstrate the need for transparent and consistent regulation.
Previous action against Anthropic
Earlier this month, Anthropic disabled global access to its advanced AI models, Fable 5 and Mythos 5, after receiving a U.S. government export control directive based on national security considerations.
The company said the order required it to suspend access for all foreign nationals, including employees who are not U.S. citizens, regardless of whether they were located inside or outside the United States.
The latest request involving OpenAI signals that U.S. authorities are increasing oversight of frontier AI systems as concerns over cybersecurity, national security, and governance continue to grow.
