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{beacon} Energy & Environment Energy & Environment   The Big Story Why are gas prices still so high? Oil is nearing its pre-war price after the U.S. and Iran agreed to a memorandum of understanding (MOU) intended to end the conflict, but gasoline remains significantly elevated. © Nam Y. Huh/AP While President Trump has blamed…

This story appeared in The Logoff, a daily newsletter that helps you stay informed about the Trump administration without letting political news take over your life. Subscribe here.

Welcome to The Logoff: The Trump administration is putting itself in charge of rolling out a new ChatGPT model. 

What’s happening? On Friday, ChatGPT maker OpenAI announced plans to launch several new AI models, including one called GPT-5.6 Sol, “in the coming weeks.” But at the request of the Trump administration, not everyone will get access at first: Instead, the government will get to sign off on which companies can use the new model, which OpenAI said is its most powerful yet.

What’s the context? This is the second big AI move the Trump administration has made recently. Earlier in June, it essentially banned Anthropic’s powerful new “frontier” AI model shortly after the company released it.

That model — originally called “Mythos” and released publicly in a more limited version called “Fable” — may have had a significant security flaw (how serious is a little unclear; my colleague Eric Levitz explains more here). But there’s also good reason to think the ban could stem from the administration’s animus against Anthropic.

Why does this matter? As Eric writes, there’s a good case that the federal government should get more involved in AI regulation. And it makes sense to be cautious about frontier models, which are powerful and potentially dangerous. But what the Trump administration is doing isn’t regulation in any traditional sense — there’s no clear process or universally applied standard at play.

Instead, the administration seems to be making it up as it goes along — and, in the process, giving itself serious leverage over both AI companies and the firms hoping to use these new tools.

And with that, it’s time to log off…

Hi readers, I hope you’ve been enjoying our little World Cup pop-up feature in this section of the newsletter (fear not — it will continue). But if you’re not quite all-in, allow my colleague Alex Abad-Santos to make the case for why this summer is the perfect time to get into sports. You can read his article here with a gift link. (And just pretend there’s also a lengthy section in there from me about the Tour de France.)

Now, a World Cup thing: the story of Iran’s star goalkeeper, who will play tonight in Seattle.

Thanks for reading, have a great weekend, and we’ll see you back here on Monday!

Shahab Elmi — CEO of the supplement company Cymbiotika — was robbed at gunpoint in France this week in a home invasion where thieves made off with millions … sources connected to the situation tell TMZ. We’re told early Thursday morning,…

There have been incredible rescues in Venezuela two days after those back-to-back earthquakes. NBC News’ George Solis reports.

El defensa español hace hincapié que han preparado el juego con las expectativas de ganar. Aunque la estrategia del uruguayo Bielsa será ofensivo, Cucurella afirma que están preparados y será un partido muy disputado por la calidad de ambos equipos.

The R&B singer broke out with the single Worst Behaviour, which she sold on a custom-built website.

The R&B singer broke out with the single Worst Behaviour, which she sold on a custom-built website.

Critics say the new reading requirements infringe on religious freedoms and blur the separation of church and state.

Some festivals are rolling out calm spaces and noise-cancelling headphones, but there are calls to go further.

Some festivals are rolling out calm spaces and noise-cancelling headphones, but there are calls to go further.

Music and films are now largely digital-only – does the lack of a disc for GTA 6 mean gaming is going the same way?

Music and films are now largely digital-only – does the lack of a disc for GTA 6 mean gaming is going the same way?