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The US Department of Commerce has cleared the way for OpenAI to move forward with the broader release of its advanced GPT-5.6 model, Axios reported, citing sources familiar with the matter.
A report late Tuesday said OpenAI expects the rollout to occur as early as this week, following additional testing and meetings between the company and government officials.
OpenAI, the White House, and the U.S. Department of Commerce did not immediately respond to CNBC’s requests for comment.
The Axios report follows the debut of three new models that OpenAI announced late last month. At the time, OpenAI opted for a phased approach, initially limiting access to a “small group of trusted partners” in order to fully comply with federal oversight. OpenAI does not disclose the names of its partners.
In a blog post announcing the announcement, the company said it “believes in broad access” and is working to make GPT-5.6 Sol, Terra and Luna models generally available in the coming weeks.
This reported US government decision comes as the Trump administration is taking a more pragmatic approach to AI regulation, with the aim of evaluating the capabilities of models before a full-scale release.
OpenAI’s domestic rival Anthropic also faced suspension of sales of its Claude Fable 5 and Mythos 5 models last month for complying with government export regulations. The restrictions were lifted last week, ending a period of regulatory uncertainty that had limited usage for users around the world.
The US government’s tight grip on domestic frontier AI is creating unforeseen opportunities for Chinese competitors, who are looking to take advantage of this stagnation to establish themselves with more accessible and cost-effective models.
Zhipu, trading as Knowledge Atlas Technology JSC, announced the GLM 5.2 model last month. This model can be downloaded for free, tweaked, and run on a company’s own servers.
