The U.S. Department of Commerce has approved the full release of OpenAI's new artificial intelligence (AI) model, 'GPT-5.6,' Reuters reported on July 8, citing Axios.

According to Reuters, a source stated that OpenAI is expected to launch GPT-5.6 widely within this week following additional testing and consultations with government officials.

This testing was conducted by the AI Safety Institute under the U.S. Department of Commerce.

Previously, last month, OpenAI had limited the release of GPT-5.6 to a phased rollout, restricted only to government-approved institutions.

At the time, OpenAI stated that this was not its preferred method of release.

This delay in the launch followed an executive order signed by President Donald Trump last month.

The executive order established a voluntary framework allowing AI developers to provide 'covered frontier models' to the U.S. government for up to 30 days before releasing them to trusted partners.

The U.S. government is increasingly strengthening its oversight of the release of advanced AI models.

The intention is to identify potential threats in advance, amid concerns that the military or intelligence agencies of countries such as China and Russia could misuse this technology.

These restrictive measures follow a pattern similar to the regulations previously imposed on Anthropic's AI models, 'Mythos' and 'Fable.'

This is interpreted as an example showing that the U.S. government is coordinating the market release of advanced AI models on a case-by-case basis in real time.

(Photo: AP, Yonhap News)