The White House is close to a voluntary framework for releasing advanced AI models, according to Financial Times reporting, with an announcement floated for as soon as the following week. The mechanics on the table are notable: a developer could ask the government whether a model counts as a 'covered frontier model,' grant up to 30 days of pre-release access, and help pick the trusted partners who get early access. This follows June's executive order directing agencies to test advanced models before release, and it lands right after Commerce lifted export controls on Anthropic's Fable and Mythos and OpenAI delayed GPT-5.6's full launch at the government's request. Voluntary today — but the shape of a real gate is already visible, and it's worth tracking if your roadmap leans on when a given model becomes available.