US Commerce Department gives green light for OpenAI to fully release GPT-5.6

The US Commerce Department has officially approved OpenAI to release its advanced AI model GPT-5.6 on a large scale. The company is expected to finish final preparations this week before making it available to the public. Previously, due to national security concerns, the US government required OpenAI to use a phased release strategy, only opening it up to a limited number of approved entities. OpenAI had made it clear that phased release was not its preferred approach. Now that the restrictions are lifted, this temporary control measure has come to an end. The testing was handled by the AI Standards and Innovation Center under the Commerce Department, with OpenAI's tech team stationed in Washington to answer government questions in real time. A new US AI executive order is on the way, aiming to set up a formal evaluation framework for releasing advanced AI models. OpenAI says AI companies and the US government are already working together under the current framework.