OpenAI has been cleared to release its most advanced model widely after the US Commerce Department signed off. Until now GPT-5.6 was available only through a restricted preview to about 20 vetted partners whose names were individually approved by the government. The sign-off followed additional testing by the Center for AI Standards and Innovation. GPT-5.6 is a three-tier family. Sol is the flagship strong at coding, biology and cybersecurity with a max reasoning effort mode. Terra is a lower-cost mid-tier for everyday enterprise workloads. Luna is the fastest and cheapest for high-volume tasks. The preview was unusually tight as the first time an American lab gated a frontier model behind a state-approved roster. OpenAI expects to widen access within days with all three tiers becoming generally available in the coming weeks. The company noted discomfort with the precedent but participated in the process established under the current administration.
OpenAI has been cleared to release its most advanced model widely after the US Commerce Department signed off. Until now GPT-5.6 was available only through a restricted preview to about 20 vetted partners whose names were individually approved by the government. The sign-off followed additional testing by the Center for AI Standards and Innovation. GPT-5.6 is a three-tier family. Sol is the flagship strong at coding, biology and cybersecurity with a max reasoning effort mode. Terra is a lower-cost mid-tier for everyday enterprise workloads. Luna is the fastest and cheapest for high-volume tasks. The preview was unusually tight as the first time an American lab gated a frontier model behind a state-approved roster. OpenAI expects to widen access within days with all three tiers becoming generally available in the coming weeks. The company noted discomfort with the precedent but participated in the process established under the current administration.