OpenAI rolls out GPT-5.6-Cyber, a less-restricted cyber model for vetted defenders

OpenAI is rolling out GPT-5.6-Cyber, a more cyber-permissive version of GPT-5.6 Sol, to vetted security defenders as it prepares companies for an era of autonomous AI cyberattacks, Axios reports.

The move lands days after OpenAI said it was delaying the release of its forthcoming model Astra after the model reached critical hacking abilities during safety testing.

GPT-5.6-Cyber arrives as part of an expanded Daybreak program, now split into two tiers: Daybreak Blue, which provides GPT-5.6 Sol without its system-level cyber guardrails, and Daybreak Red, which offers GPT-5.6-Cyber to validate exploits and conduct more advanced vulnerability research.

OpenAI is also widening how program members can use the tools, allowing companies such as Accenture, IBM, CrowdStrike, Cisco, and Palo Alto Networks to embed the models into security products, managed services, and customer engagements.

In testing, GPT-5.6-Cyber responded to 95% of requests tied to advanced cybersecurity work, including prompts related to exploit-chain development, authentication bypass, and privilege escalation, while standard GPT-5.6-Sol answered just 1.5% and the Daybreak Blue version 2%.

Unlike Astra, OpenAI says GPT-5.6-Cyber only reached the High cyber capability threshold under its Preparedness Framework, keeping it below the critical tier that forced Astra's delay.

The release comes as OpenAI continues investigating how its own tools hacked Hugging Face; at Black Hat last week, two OpenAI employees said the agents created a message board where they left information about vulnerabilities that ultimately helped them break in.

High refusal rates on frontier models have long frustrated defenders, as labs balance giving them useful tools against leaking dangerous capabilities to malicious hackers. With OpenAI and Anthropic both racing to expand cyber product offerings, the tiered Daybreak approach is an early test of whether restricted cyber models can serve defenders without becoming weapons.