OpenAI limits new AI models to 'trusted partners' at request of U.S. government

OpenAI Ceo Sam Altman speaks to journalists after meeting with US House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, on June 3, 2026. Brendan Smialowski | AFP | Getty Images OpenAI on Friday announced three new artificial intelligence models and said it's complying with the U.S. government's request to initially limit the rollout to a "small group of trusted partners." The company said in a blog post that it "believes in broad access" and is working to make the models — GPT-5.6 Sol, Terra and Luna — generally available in the coming weeks. OpenAI said it previewed the models' capabilities and shared its plans with the government ahead of Friday's launch. "We don't believe this kind of government access process should become the long-term default," OpenAI said. "It keeps the best tools from users, developers, enterprises, cyber defenders, and global partners who need them." OpenAI didn't disclose the names of partners that can use its new models. The announcement comes two weeks after rival Anthropic announced it had to disable access to two of its latest models in order to comply with an export control directive from the Trump administration. Anthropic is in active negotiations with officials in Washington, D.C., but has not said when it expects its the models to come back online. The Trump Administration has taken a noticeably more hands-on approach to AI regulation since President Donald Trump signed an AI executive order earlier this month. …