OpenAI announced three new artificial intelligence models on Friday—GPT-5.6 Sol, Terra and Luna—and said it is complying with the U.S. government's request to initially limit the rollout to a small group of trusted partners. The company stated it previewed the models' capabilities and shared its plans with the government ahead of the launch. The announcement follows the Trump administration's more hands-on approach to AI regulation after President Donald Trump signed an AI executive order earlier this month requesting voluntary government assessments of model capabilities before full release.
OpenAI did not disclose the names of partners that can use its new models. The company said in a blog post that it "believes in broad access" and stated it is working to make the models generally available in the coming weeks. OpenAI said it does not believe "this kind of government access process should become the long-term default," stating it "keeps the best tools from users, developers, enterprises, cyber defenders, and global partners who need them."
OpenAI Plans General Availability in Coming Weeks
OpenAI said it is taking this short-term step because the company believes it is the strongest path to broader availability in the coming weeks. The company stated it is working with the Trump administration to help establish a framework for such assessments and to develop a "repeatable process for future model releases."
GPT-5.6 Sol Shows Improvements in Coding and Cybersecurity
GPT-5.6 Sol, Terra and Luna are named according to their capability tiers. OpenAI said Sol is its strongest offering yet. The model shows improvements across coding and biology, and OpenAI said it is the company's most capable model for cybersecurity. The company said Sol is better at helping users fix vulnerabilities than it is at carrying out end-to-end attacks, and it still does not cross into OpenAI's "critical" cybersecurity risk threshold, which is defined as bringing "unprecedented new pathways to severe harm."
Anthropic Disabled Two Models Two Weeks Prior
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 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. The order, which was thin on specific details, asked AI developers to voluntarily allow the government to assess model capabilities ahead of a full release.
FAQ
What did OpenAI announce on Friday?
OpenAI announced three new artificial intelligence models on Friday: GPT-5.6 Sol, Terra and Luna. The company said it is complying with the U.S. government's request to initially limit the rollout to a small group of trusted partners, with general availability planned in the coming weeks.
Why did OpenAI limit access to its new models?
OpenAI limited access to comply with the U.S. government's request. The company previewed the models' capabilities and shared its plans with the government ahead of the Friday launch, following President Donald Trump's AI executive order earlier this month that requested voluntary government assessments of model capabilities before full release.
What are the capabilities of GPT-5.6 Sol?
OpenAI said GPT-5.6 Sol is its strongest offering yet, showing improvements across coding and biology. The company stated it is the most capable model for cybersecurity, better at helping users fix vulnerabilities than carrying out end-to-end attacks, and does not cross OpenAI's "critical" cybersecurity risk threshold.
