The White House has reportedly asked OpenAI to limit the initial release of its upcoming GPT-5.6 model over safety concerns, marking the latest sign of increasing US government involvement in the launch of advanced AI systems, according to an article published in The Information.

OpenAI plans to make GPT-5.6 available only to a small group of partners during an initial preview, with CEO Sam Altman reportedly telling employees that the government would approve access “customer by customer.” If the rollout proceeds smoothly, the company expects a wider release a few weeks later.

Anthropic order set the precedent: The reported move comes just weeks after the US government ordered Anthropic to suspend access to its flagship AI models, Fable 5 and Mythos 5, for all foreign nationals worldwide under an export control directive issued on June 12.

Anthropic complied with the order but disputed its basis. The company said the government cited concerns over a possible jailbreak that could bypass the models’ safety protections but provided only “verbal evidence of a potential narrow, non-universal jailbreak”. Anthropic argued that the reported technique exposed only limited, previously known vulnerabilities and said similar capabilities were available in other frontier models, including OpenAI’s GPT-5.5.

Directive now faces legal challenge: The order has since become the subject of a legal challenge. On June 23, legal technology company Legion LegalTech sued the US government, arguing that existing export-control laws do not cover hosted AI models or their outputs. The lawsuit also claims the government exceeded its legal authority, improperly used emergency powers, and imposed a blanket restriction without a valid statutory basis. Legion is seeking to have the directive declared unlawful and blocked. 

Part of a broader technology rivalry: The developments come amid a wider technology rivalry between the US and China. In recent years, the US has tightened export controls on advanced AI chips to China, while Beijing has responded with restrictions on exports of rare earth materials that are critical to global technology supply chains. More recently, China also blocked Meta’s reported partnership with Manus. Against this backdrop, governments are increasingly treating oversight of frontier AI models as another front in the broader contest over strategic technologies.

AI as a strategic asset: Writing about Anthropic’s Mythos model before the US restrictions were imposed, MediaNama founder Nikhil Pahwa argued that the technology has implications beyond cybersecurity. “A model that can find and exploit zero-days at scale is not only a defensive tool. It is a strategic capability that militaries will want,” he wrote. He added that “this is like cyber-nuclear power. Can be used for good (improve software/produce electricity) or destruction (cyberattacks/nuclear weapons).”

Pahwa also noted that Anthropic had itself linked the technology to geopolitical competition, writing: “Strategic technologies do not distribute their benefits evenly, even when their risks are universal.” Referring to Anthropic’s own statements, he observed that “the US and its allies must maintain a decisive lead in AI technology,” adding that “the strategic benefit flows first to the US and its allies.”

Together, the OpenAI review, the Anthropic restrictions, and the legal challenge show that governments are increasingly treating frontier AI models not just as commercial products but as technologies with national security and geopolitical significance.

Read more:

• Anthropic opens Mythos-class AI to the public, but keeps high-risk capabilities behind guardrails
• SEBI forms task force, orders immediate cybersecurity overhaul amid Claude Mythos concerns
• Claude Mythos puts India on alert: CERT-In, telcos, banks assess unprecedented cyber risks