Donald Trump’s administration has lifted restrictions on the release of OpenAI’s latest AI model, GPT‑5.6. Axios, citing sources, reports that after several weeks of intensive government scrutiny, the US Commerce Department approved a mass rollout of the product, which is expected in mid-July.
The green light followed a series of additional tests and in‑person meetings. According to the periodical, tests were conducted at the Commerce Department’s Center for AI Standards and Innovation. OpenAI’s technical team had to remain in Washington to answer regulators’ questions in person during the audit.
As recently as last month, the White House tried to impose a phased rollout on GPT‑5.6 that would have granted access only to organizations pre‑approved by the government. OpenAI’s executives openly opposed that scenario, telling officials that formal standards for launching cutting‑edge models have not been developed yet.
OpenAI was not the only company in regulators’ sights. Axios notes that rival Anthropic faced similar hurdles: in June, the Commerce Department blocked foreign access to its Mythos and Fable models, effectively pushing them out of the market. The ban on Fable was lifted only in early July, allowing the developer to restore access for its clients.
