US Asks OpenAI To Restrict ChatGPT-5.6 Access To Approved Partners – Report

The U.S. government has asked OpenAI to limit access to its upcoming GPT-5.6 model to a small number of government-approved partners because of the model’s advanced capabilities, CNN reported, citing a source familiar with the matter.

The request came on the heels of the Trump administration’s export control order on Anthropic, which forced the company to withdraw its most advanced models, Mythos and Fable, from public access over concerns about their cybersecurity capabilities.

According to the source, OpenAI and the administration consider GPT-5.6 to be comparable in capability to Anthropic’s Mythos model.

OpenAI agreed to restrict the model’s release, with CEO Sam Altman informing staff in an internal memo on Thursday that the government is approving access “customer by customer.”

Altman acknowledged in the memo that the current arrangement is not a sustainable long-term model and indicated that OpenAI is working with the government to develop a more practical approach for future 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, cited by The Information and quoted by CNN.

A White House official told CNN that the administration continues to collaborate with frontier AI laboratories to develop shared approaches for addressing the challenges associated with scaling advanced artificial intelligence. OpenAI declined to comment on the matter.

According to CNN, the request to OpenAI has highlighted the absence of a clear and consistent regulatory framework for frontier AI in the United States, with experts warning that the current ad hoc approach could both stifle innovation and undermine public trust.

Earlier this month, President Donald Trump signed an executive order asking companies developing advanced AI models to voluntarily submit them for government review 30 days before their public release. However, the framework for implementing the order has yet to be established.

The report noted that uncertainty over which agency is leading AI regulation has further complicated the situation. While the request to OpenAI came from the White House, the export control restrictions on Anthropic were issued by the Commerce Department, creating what experts describe as an inconsistent regulatory environment.

Brad Carson, head of Public First, a bipartisan AI safety organisation, said the Anthropic episode underscored the urgent need for a transparent regulatory process.

“The Fable episode shows the need for clear regulations. Right now, you have an ad hoc, personalised, opaque, possibly lawless approach,” Carson told CNN.

 “It is certainly appropriate for the government to recall dangerous products, including AI models, but it has to be done in a way consistent with transparency and basic fairness.”