Trump administration asks OpenAI to limit next model release over security concerns

The https://www.axios.com/politics-policy/donald-trump" target="_blank">Trump administration has asked https://www.axios.com/2026/06/22/openai-rolls-out-more-capable-version-of-cyber-model" target="_blank">OpenAI to limit the release of its next model, GPT-5.6, to only a small set of government-approved partners before any wider release, citing security concerns, according to a source familiar with the matter.

Why it matters: This marks the first time the U.S. government has preemptively asked an American AI company to restrict the launch of a model before release.

Driving the news: The White House's Office of the National Cyber Director and the Office of Science and Technology Policy asked OpenAI to limit the rollout of GPT-5.6 as the administration builds a framework for testing and evaluating the security of new models, per the source.

• The Information https://www.theinformation.com/articles/trump-administration-asks-openai-stagger-release-new-model-security-concerns" target="_blank">reported earlier Thursday that OpenAI CEO Sam Altman shared the plans for a limited rollout in a memo to employees.
• "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 The Information.

Between the lines: The source told Axios that OpenAI has been proactively working with the administration on the model release since before Anthropic revoked access to its frontier models, https://www.axios.com/2026/06/13/anthropic-amazon-white-house" target="_blank">Fable 5 and Mythos 5, over a rare Commerce Department https://www.axios.com/2026/06/12/anthropic-trump-mythos-fable-national-security" target="_blank">directive.

• The White House has been looped in on the capabilities of OpenAI's new model and has been able to preview its abilities.

Flashback: President Trump https://www.axios.com/2026/06/02/trump-signs-new-ai-executive-order" target="_blank">signed an AI security executive order earlier this month that directs several agencies to stand up a voluntary testing protocol for AI companies prior to releasing a new model.

• Political infighting over how restrictive and mandatory that program should be https://www.axios.com/2026/05/21/white-house-postpones-ai-eo-signing" target="_blank">delayed the executive order for weeks.

The big picture: AI labs are caught in a tough position as they race to release new models to compete not only with one another, but with increasingly capable https://www.axios.com/2026/06/22/open-source-ai-china-cost-risk-glm-deepseek" target="_blank">Chinese open-source models.

• Meanwhile, security officials and corporate leaders are growing increasingly concerned about what happens when bad actors — including nation-state spies, cybercriminals and rogue insiders — get their hands on these highly capable models.

What to watch: Altman said in the memo that he hopes to be able to release GPT-5.6 a "couple of weeks later," per The Information.