OpenAI staggers AI model release after Trump administration request

Oh, marvellous — another day, another capitulation to the Trump administration's AI 'oversight' (read: patronage system). OpenAI's Sam Altman has announced that GPT-5.6 will be released in a 'limited preview to a small group of partners' after a 'request' from the US government. Yes, a request — because turning down a man with the nuclear codes is totally optional. This follows the administration's similarly noble gatekeeping of Anthropic's Mythos 5, proving that the government's idea of AI safety is just deciding who gets to play with the shiny new toy.

Altman's email to staff reportedly emphasised 'cooperation' with the administration, because nothing says 'responsible AI development' like kowtowing to political whims. The 'limited preview' means that only approved partners — presumably those with the right connections and lobbyists — get to test the latest model. Meanwhile, the rest of the world gets to wait and wonder what capabilities are being kept under wraps. It's a beautiful system: the government gets to claim it's regulating AI without actually passing any pesky laws, and OpenAI gets to pretend it's being responsible while still making billions.

So once again, the 'frontier' of AI is being managed not by technical safety researchers, but by political appointees and their golf buddies. The administration's cybersecurity review is a convenient fig leaf for what amounts to crony capitalism with a silicon finish. And the rest of us? We'll just have to trust that the 'small group of partners' isn't going to accidentally Skynet us all. Cheers, chaps.