OpenAI to publicly release GPT-5.6, rolls out Live voice AI models
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman speaks to reporters after meeting with U.S. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, on June 3, 2026.
Brendan Smialowski | AFP | Getty Images
OpenAI said it will publicly release its GPT-5.6 Sol, Terra and Luna models on Thursday, about two weeks after the AI company limited the rollout to a “small group of trusted partners” at the request of the US government.
“Happy building,” OpenAI CEO Sam Altman wrote a post on x late Tuesday.
OpenAI also announced next-generation audio models called GPT-Live on Wednesday. Models can listen and talk at the same time, which means interacting with models is “more like a real conversation,” the company said. a blog post.
OpenAI said two versions of its voice models, GPT‑Live‑1 and GPT‑Live‑1 mini, will be available to ChatGPT users worldwide on Wednesday.
OpenAI released its GPT-5.6 series models in June, initially agreeing to release them to a select group of organizations whose “participation was shared with the government.” blog post. The company said it believes in “broad access” and will work to make the models more widely available in the coming weeks.
“We do not believe this type of government access process should become the default in the long term,” OpenAI said at the time. “It hides the best tools from the users, developers, organizations, cyber defenders, and global partners who need them.”
The public launch of the GPT-5.6 models comes after OpenAI’s chief rival Anthropic restored access to its Claude Fable 5 and Mythos 5 models following a weeks-long conflict with the government. anthropic It had to disable access to the models to comply with an export control directive that the US Commerce Department lifted late last month.
The Trump administration has taken a more active role in AI deployments since President Donald Trump signed an AI executive order in June. The order asks AI model developers to voluntarily provide the latest models to the government to evaluate their capabilities ahead of full release and gives federal agencies 60 days to develop an evaluation process.
OpenAI said in June that it was working with the government to help create a framework for such evaluations and develop “a repeatable process for future model releases.”
The company said GPT-5.6 Sol is its “most powerful model yet” and is more capable of coding, biology and cybersecurity, according to a blog post.
OpenAI said: a post on x Late Tuesday, it announced it was expanding preview access to GPT-5.6 models globally.
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