The U.S. Department of Commerce has approved OpenAI for the wide release of its advanced GPT 5.6 model, according to sources familiar with the matter. This decision follows additional testing and meetings between OpenAI and government officials, with the AI Standards and Innovation Center overseeing the process. OpenAI is expected to release GPT 5.6 widely this week. Previously, OpenAI was restricted to a phased release of GPT 5.6 to government-approved entities, similar to the constraints on Anthropic’s Mythos and Fable models. OpenAI had expressed a preference for a broader release strategy. The move comes as AI companies and the government work on finalizing specific model release standards mandated by a recent executive order from Trump.