OpenAI agrees to stagger rollout of its most powerful model to only Trump-approved customers

Open AI is staggering the rollout of its newest and most powerful AI model after a request from the Trump administration. To get access to the new model, customers must first be cleared by the U.S. government, the company said on Friday. The model, called GPT-5.6 Sol, is the flagship in a new tier of more advanced models that includes a more efficient model called Terra and its cheaper cousin Luna. Open AI says that Sol is its strongest model yet, able to complete 50% of long-running professional tasks and tops all previous OpenAI models on coding capabilities. OpenAI said it hopes to make all three generally available in the coming weeks. The Information first reported that the Trump administration asks OpenAI to stagger release of the new model over security concerns. The move represents a broader shift in how the U.S. government is approaching frontier AI. Advanced cyber capabilities displayed by Anthropic’s Mythos and OpenAI’s GPT-cyber have caused concern in Washington. By limiting access to the government is attempting to ensure that those capabilities don’t end up in the hands of bad actors or hostile nation-states It is also the second time in a month that a frontier lab’s best model has been held back from general release over capability concerns. In early June, the Commerce Department issued export controls on Anthropic that forced the lab to cut off foreign access to two of its top models, citing national security concerns. Anthropic disputed the order, but was left with no choice but to pull the models offline. Earlier this month, Trump also signed an executive order directing federal agencies to establish a framework under which AI companies could voluntarily provide the government with early access to powerful new models for up to 30 days before broader release. OpenAI describes its own situation as voluntary, in contrast to Anthropic’s situation. “As part of our ongoing engagement with the U.S. government, we previewed our plans