Trump Admin Clears OpenAI GPT-5.6 for July 9 Public Launch

Public access to OpenAI's most advanced AI models is set to expand this week after the Department of Commerce completed its review. The decision determines when millions of users can interact with systems that exceed prior performance benchmarks while operating under a new executive order on AI cybersecurity.

OpenAI will release three variants of GPT-5.6—Sol, Luna, and Terra—on July 9. Sol is the company's strongest model to date. Terra targets everyday tasks at roughly half the cost of GPT-5.5. Luna is the lowest-priced option. Pricing per million tokens stands at $5 input and $30 output for Sol, $2.50 input and $15 output for Terra, and $1 input and $6 output for Luna. The company first limited the models to a small group of government-approved partners in late June after President Trump signed an order requiring voluntary submission of frontier systems 30 days before wider release.

The Center for AI Standards and Innovation conducted additional testing and held further meetings with OpenAI technical staff who traveled to Washington. Axios reported the clearance on July 8, citing a source familiar with the matter. OpenAI, the White House, and the Department of Commerce did not respond to comment requests from other outlets. OpenAI stated at the time of the limited rollout that it does not view government pre-review as a desirable long-term process.

Anthropic faced parallel restrictions when the Commerce Department barred foreign nationals from its Mythos and Fable models in June. Access to Mythos 5 was restored last week, followed by Fable 5. Both companies are operating under the same executive order while permanent standards remain unfinished.