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

The Trump administration has asked 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 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, Fable 5 and Mythos 5, over a rare Commerce Department 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 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 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 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.