#222: GPT-5.6, Government Staggers AI Model Releases, Agents Are Transforming Work & Growing Data Center Backlash

OpenAI just previewed GPT-5.6, but for the first time, the U.S. government is deciding who gets access to a frontier AI model. Paul Roetzer and Mike Kaput break down what they're calling the soft nationalization of artificial intelligence: a staggered, government-approved release, the Dean Ball essay responding to it, and what it means when Washington, not the labs, controls the most powerful models. Plus: OpenAI's new Codex research on agents at work, the looming question of Chinese models, and the data center backlash uniting both parties.

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Timestamps:

— Intro

— GPT-5.6 Begins Controlled Release

— Dean Ball Releases Essay on Critical Safety Actions

— How Agents Are Transforming Work: OpenAI's New Research

— Will the US Government Restrict Chinese Models?

— The Growing Data Center Backlash

— The $27M Proxy War Over Alex Bores

— More Google DeepMind Talent Woes

— The EU Act and Digital Sovereignty

— AI Use Case Spotlight

— AI Product and Funding Updates

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