Ultraman responded to the restrictions on the release of GPT‑5.6: He doesn’t like the US government selecting customers

On June 27, OpenAI released a new generation of flagship large model GPT‑5.6 series on Friday. However, at the request of the US government, the new model was initiallyonly to a small partOpen to partners approved by the Trump administration, large-scale launch still needs to wait.

Ultraman and Trump

In fact, it is expected that the release of GPT‑5.6 will be limited. Bloomberg reported on Thursday that the U.S. government asked OpenAI to release GPT-5.6 in stages. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman told employees on Wednesday that the U.S. government requires the company to make GPT-5.6 available to a small group of trusted partners for use before gradually opening it to a wider range of users.

Even so, OpenAI expressed reservations about such a restricted release when it released GPT‑5.6 on Friday. OpenAI said in a blog post that this limited release is a temporary measure and should not become a normal practice. The company is working with the US government to develop a broader framework for future model releases. The company added that it had reported its plans and the capabilities of these models to the U.S. government ahead of the release of GPT‑5.6.

Altman responded on X: "Large-scale security testing is not a bad thing. I just don't like the government's practice of cherry-picking customers."

Ultraman's response

According to the Wall Street Journal, OpenAI had begun discussions with the U.S. government about the release of GPT-5.6 long before Anthropic’s latest model was subject to export controls.

According to people familiar with the matter, Altman and U.S. Commerce Secretary Lutnick discussed a phased release of GPT-5.6 on Wednesday. The U.S. Commerce Department, one of the main agencies overseeing artificial intelligence models, has a government testing division responsible for reviewing models before they are released.

The U.S. Department of Commerce’s Artificial Intelligence Standards and Innovation Center has been reviewing GPT-5.6 as it tests other models, people familiar with the matter said.

A recent Trump executive order gives cybersecurity and national security officials a bigger role in model evaluation, worrying OpenAI and other companies that have been pushing to keep the Center for Artificial Intelligence Standards and Innovation relevant.

Trump, Altman and other world leaders and AI executives discussed model regulation and safety at a recent G7 meeting in France.