White House denies approval for OpenAI GPT-5.6 July 9 launch
Technology
Rumors were swirling that the Trump administration approved OpenAI's big new AI model, GPT-5.6, for a July 9 launch, but the White House has shut that down.
A spokesperson told Gizmodo there was no official sign-off for releasing GPT-5.6 in any of its tiers (Sol, Terra, or Luna).
White House: federal AI reviews voluntary
According to the White House, companies like OpenAI can choose to submit their models for federal safety reviews, but it's totally voluntary.
There's no requirement or government preapproval needed before public launches.
Still, if national security is at risk (like when Anthropic's models were pulled offline last month), the government can step in.
OpenAI hasn't responded yet to these latest statements.