🛡 OpenAI introduces approval for routers and gateways with access to its models
Usage Policies change on November 20, 2026: services reselling direct access to OpenAI models—model routers and AI gateways—must undergo prior review and obtain approval. Those building products on models internally remain customers.
🌍 Access distribution becomes a compliance surface: intermediaries are required to ensure protection no lower than OpenAI's level and coordinate blocks with it so that a blocked user cannot bypass the restriction by switching channels. Review criteria and timelines have not been disclosed.
👤 Products using the direct API do not need to break anything, but by November 20, it is advisable to review scenarios: the prohibition on training competitors on OpenAI outputs, child and teen protection, and national security rules. Users of third-party routers may face checks and pauses while intermediaries undergo approval.
Source 1: https://openai.com/index/broad-access-through-consistent-standards