OpenAI Grants EU Access to GPT-5.5-Cyber Model as Anthropic Holds Out

OpenAI announced on Monday it would grant the European Union access to GPT-5.5-Cyber, a variation of its latest AI model. The company is rolling out the model in limited preview capacity to vetted cybersecurity teams.

European partners including businesses, governments, cyber authorities and EU institutions such as the EU AI office would be granted access, the company said. The announcement comes a month after Anthropic released its own model, Mythos, that prompted a wave of fears around cyberattacks on critical software.

Commission Spokesperson Thomas Regnier welcomed OpenAI's decision at a press briefing on Monday. "We welcome OpenAI's transparency and intent to give commission access to new model," Regnier said. He confirmed an exchange had taken place between OpenAI and the EU, with further discussions planned this week around access to the model.

"This will allow us to follow deployment of the model very closely, and address security concerns," Regnier added. Though Mythos was released a month ago, Anthropic has yet to grant the EU preview access to review it. The EU is discussing access with Anthropic, but the talks are at a "different stage" than those with OpenAI.

The Commission had held "four or five" meetings with Anthropic. Regnier said the discussions were "not yet at the same stage as the solution we have on the table from OpenAI."

OpenAI's Head of OpenAI for Countries George Osborne said in a statement that AI labs should not act alone on cyber safety. "AI labs like ours shouldn’t be the sole arbiters of cyber safety as resilience depends on trusted partners working together," Osborne said. "The latest cyber AI capabilities should be available for Europe’s many defenders, not just the few, and we want to help make that happen."

Through the OpenAI EU Cyber Action Plan, the company will work with European policymakers, institutions and businesses by democratizing access to the defensive tools that trusted actors can use to strengthen shared security, support public safety and reflect European priorities. Anthropic has been approached for comment.