OpenAI limits new GPT-5.6 models for select partners over US govt request
New Delhi, June 27
US-based AI company OpenAI has announced that new GPT‑5.6 models, such as Sol, Terra and Luna, will be rolled out with a limited preview for trusted partners, with a wider release planned in the coming weeks.
These models bring advances in reasoning, coding and cybersecurity, according to the company.
OpenAI said it briefed the US government on GPT‑5.6's capabilities before launch and agreed to the government's request of a limited launch, while federal authorities develop a broader framework for evaluating advanced models under a recent cybersecurity executive order, according to multiple reports.
The company said it intends to make the models available across ChatGPT, the API and Codex in the coming weeks, and added that it does not want government preview requirements to become a permanent standard for frontier AI releases.
The launch follows increased scrutiny of frontier AI models in the United States.
OpenAI described GPT‑5.6 Sol as its flagship model for the most demanding scientific workloads, Terra as a balanced option for enterprise and developer tasks offering performance comparable to GPT‑5.5 at roughly half the cost.
It launched Luna as the fastest, most affordable model for cost‑sensitive applications without sacrificing core capabilities.
The company said Sol will be available on Cerebras hardware in July for select customers, delivering inference speeds up to 750 tokens per second.
Sol can use Max Reasoning Effort, a capability upgrade, to spend significantly more time reasoning through difficult problems before responding. Its Ultra Mode, deploys multiple specialised sub-agents that work together on complex workflows, improving performance on coding, research and multi-step tasks.
Meanwhile, US-based AI company Anthropic won US approval to restore limited access to its powerful Mythos 5 artificial intelligence model to "certain trusted partners" after resolving the government's national security concerns.
The clearance follows a government order two weeks earlier that abruptly barred Anthropic from giving foreign nationals access to Mythos 5 and a related model, Fable 5, over fears that security guardrails could be circumvented.
— IANS
Reader Comments
At least they're being transparent about the government preview. Our Indian companies like Infosys and TCS should take note - this is how you handle responsible AI deployment. But I worry about what happens when US decides which "trusted partners" get access. Will Indian startups be left out? 🧐
Finally some responsible regulation. But limiting it to US partners while the rest of the world waits? Not cool. My team in Bangalore was hoping to test Sol for climate modeling.
Is anyone else seeing the irony? US govt asks OpenAI to limit models citing cybersecurity, but Anthropic gets approval after "resolving national security concerns". Means they just had to promise not to give access to certain countries' nationals. India is probably on that list. 😡
I'm actually impressed by the tiered approach. Sol for science, Terra for enterprise, Luna for budget. Makes sense for Indian market where cost sensitivity is high. But the Cerebras hardware requirement for Sol is problematic - we don't have that infrastructure readily available.
Bhai, 750 tokens per second? That's insane for real-time apps. But the real question is - when will Indian researchers get hands-on? Our IITs and IISc are doing cutting-edge work too. We shouldn't be treated as second-class citizens in AI development. Jai Hind! 🇮🇳
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