The White House has found a unique way to try get ahead of the pack in the geopolitical race for AI. As reported this Thursday by the prestigious technology media The Information, senior officials of the Trump Administration have demanded that OpenAI, owner of ChatGPT, that its new GPT-5.6 engine be released first to a group of partners previously authorized by Washington.
It would be the first time that a US government requires a technology company to restrict the launch of a new service citing security reasons. Of course, just a few days ago the White House issued an unusual regulation requiring Anthropic to access users outside the United States.
The order came from the Office of the National Cybersecurity Director and the Office of Science and Technology Policy of the Trump Administration. Specifically, the demand was that OpenAI limit the launch of the new model while the US Government works on a regulatory framework to be able to evaluate the safety of the new artificial intelligence systems that are coming to the market.
According to another American media outlet, Axios, the reactions within OpenAI have been one of resignation. In a circular sent by CEO Sam Altman to the staff, it can be read that the company’s management has made it clear to the US that “This is not our preferred long-term model.” “We will work with them and other players in the industry to achieve a more sustainable approach for future launches.”
This measure comes with the calls that Donald Trump himself has made in recent months warning against excessive regulation against artificial intelligence (or in the European Union) and warning that it is necessary to have “freedom to innovate.”
The free market finds its limits in artificial intelligence
It has also emerged that Altman himself already spoke in the middle of the week with another senior official in the US Administration, Howard Lutnick, Secretary of Commerce. Lutnick wanted to be certain from Altman that all departments of the North American Government had given the green light to the new GPT-5.6 model before it reached the market, as Washington understood that it has similar capabilities to Mythos.
Anthropic, another AI firm, launched a closed test version of its new Mythos model a few weeks ago, causing a storm in the world economy. It is feared that these high-capacity artificial intelligence models have the ability to find vulnerabilities in information systems, opening the door to massive cyberattacks against critical industries such as banking, energy or transportation.
As a result of these fears, Anthropic was receptive and shared that closed Mythos test with large American companieswhich also raised questions on the other side of the Atlantic: earlier access to new AI models that can thus transform the world generates a competitive advantage for American companies while European companies would be left behind.
Finally Anthropic also created another working group with European companies days later. Anthropic ended up launching limited versions of Mythos, its new models Claude Fable 5 and Claude Mythos 5. Despite the limitations, Washington ordered this June that only US citizens can provisionally access these models. The free market sparked the current AI fever. And the free market now wants to contain it.
