OpenAI secures approval to release GPT-5.6 variants on July 9

OpenAI plans to make its latest models available to everyone this Thursday. The company revealed on X that preview access for Sol, Luna and Terra will expand worldwide beginning July 9, adding "We're expanding preview access globally now."

OpenAI submitted the models for review under a Trump administration order. It first offered GPT-5.6 only to a "small group of trusted partners" in late June to satisfy a White House directive. President Trump signed an AI cybersecurity order in early June that calls on developers to voluntarily submit their strongest systems for official examination 30 days ahead of broad distribution.

The firm noted then that it opposed turning such reviews into standard practice yet chose to follow the rule so it could reach the market faster.

The Trump administration granted permission after additional testing. Axios reported that officials signed off on wider distribution once the models cleared extra evaluation and further discussions. Staff from the Department of Commerce's Center for AI Standards and Innovation ran those checks while OpenAI dispatched engineers to Washington so any issues could be resolved on the spot.

The entire sequence lasted well under the full 30-day period. All three GPT-5.6 variants will therefore become accessible globally on July 9.

GPT-5.6 includes three variants with distinct capabilities and pricing. Sol stands as the firm's most capable offering to date. Terra targets everyday use and promises a similar performance to GPT-5.5 despite being twice as cheap, while Luna functions as the lowest-cost option.

Sol pricing stands at $5 per million input tokens and $30 per million output tokens. Terra costs $2.50 per million input and $15 per million output, while Luna is priced at $1 per million input and $6 per million output.

Anthropic followed similar compliance steps for its own models. The company blocked access to its latest Mythos cybersecurity and Fable models to meet government requirements preventing foreign nationals from using them. Anthropic has since gained approval to redeploy the more exclusive Mythos 5 model and eventually Fable 5, which brings many capabilities to the public.