Export control directive issued
Anthropic announced Friday that the US Commerce Department had issued an export control directive ordering the company to suspend all access by foreign nationals to its Fable 5 and Mythos 5 artificial intelligence models. The company said it must "abruptly disable" the models for all customers to ensure compliance. Even foreign nationals working for Anthropic itself are affected by the suspension.
Jailbreak fears behind the order
The government believes there is a method of bypassing safeguards that could allow Fable 5 to be used in identifying software vulnerabilities, according to Anthropic. A US official confirmed the Commerce Department acted on national security grounds. Anthropic stated it disagrees that a "narrow potential jailbreak" warrants recalling a commercial model deployed to hundreds of millions of users, but is complying fully.
Prickly history with Washington
The order represents an unprecedented instance of federal authorities dictating how an AI company must operate. It follows President Trump's earlier directive for all federal agencies to stop working with Anthropic products, though some parts of the government found workarounds to continue accessing the models. The White House has stayed in close contact with the company despite the strained relationship, highlighting the tension between national security concerns and AI industry growth.