OpenAI launched its newest series of models, GPT-5.6 Sun, Earth, and Luna, this Thursday, which were announced last month. CEO Sam Altman told CNBC that the Sun model is 54% more token-efficient in agentic coding tasks, and that it is ‘as good as or better’ than competitors in the market.
‘Every company is now thinking about spending and the value they get in return for AI, and that’s really what we want to do,’ Altman said.
The initial launch was limited to a ‘small group of trusted partners’ at the request of the U.S. government. Altman said the company worked with Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, and U.S. National Cyber Director Sean Cairncross on the approval process. He described the collaboration as a ‘collaborative exchange,’ where the government conducted tests and raised issues for the company to address.
‘If you want broad access, as we do, and you have powerful models, you really need to have confidence in your safety claims, because otherwise the world is going to get uncomfortable very quickly,’ Altman said.
OpenAI is in preliminary and ongoing discussions with the Trump administration about a potential stake in the company, as previously reported by CNBC. The company proposed giving the government a 5% stake, according to the Financial Times, but Altman said there are ‘many inaccuracies’ in that information.
Altman said he expects the regulatory approach to be global and that people can use AI without having to think about safety. ‘Everyone will have access,’ he said. ‘It’s not like the U.S. is going to benefit disproportionately here.’
OpenAI was founded as a nonprofit research company in 2015 and exploded into the mainstream with the launch of ChatGPT in 2022. The company, now valued at $852 billion by private investors, has sparked a race for AI dominance among rivals such as Anthropic, Google, Microsoft, Amazon, Meta, and Elon Musk’s SpaceX.
Meta launched its newest AI model, Muse Spark 1.1, on Thursday, which the company says is its ‘strongest model for agentic work and coding to date.’ SpaceX, which acquired Musk’s AI startup xAI earlier this year, launched a model called Grok 4.5 on Wednesday.
SpaceX conducted the largest IPO in history last month, and OpenAI and Anthropic are also preparing for potential massive stock market debuts. Both companies have confidentially filed their prospectuses with regulators but have not disclosed official plans or timelines.
Altman did not confirm whether OpenAI will go public this year. ‘I don’t know,’ he said.
Watch: OpenAI CEO: Chinese open-source models are getting very good.
