Anthropic Disables AI Models After U.S. Order

Anthropic has disabled access to its advanced AI models Fable 5 and Mythos 5 following a U.S. government order that cited national security concerns, as reported by multiple sources including Al Jazeera. The directive blocks foreign nationals from using these models globally, prompting the company to disable them for all users.

The Commerce Department issued the export control directive without specific details of the national security concern. According to reports from Time, the government believes there is a method of bypassing safeguards that would prevent Fable 5 from being used in identifying software vulnerabilities. Amazon CEO Andy Jassy was among tech leaders who raised concerns about these risks.

The order comes amidst growing tensions between AI developers and regulators over assessing risks from so-called 'jailbreaks,' or methods used to bypass model safeguards. Anthropic had previously called for greater U.S. oversight of AI but stated that the government action did not follow principles of fair and fact-based regulation, as noted by Al Jazeera.

Anthropic's relationship with the government has been strained this year after it refused to allow the U.S. military to use its AI models for domestic surveillance and fully autonomous weapons systems. The Pentagon's chief information officer, Kirsten Davies, emphasized prioritizing national security over commercial interests, according to Al Jazeera. The Defense Department placed Anthropic on a blacklist deeming it too dangerous for government use.

The action also marks a major escalation of U.S. efforts to halt foreign adversaries' AI capabilities. Experts have warned that Mythos models could accelerate sophisticated cyberattacks if used maliciously, as reported by Reuters. The timing of the announcement could be damaging to Anthropic, coming ahead of an expected initial public offering in the U.S., according to Time.

Anthropic confidentially filed for a U.S. IPO last month, edging ahead of rival OpenAI in the race to reach public markets. The latest government restriction is colliding with a race among U.S. developers to deliver the most advanced AI models and prove to their investors that the technology can turn a profit.

Senior Anthropic staffers are meeting with Trump administration officials in Washington, D.C., on Monday to try to resolve the dispute over its latest high-profile dispute with the U.S. government, according to CNBC. The AI startup disabled access to the models for all of its customers in order to ensure compliance with the directive. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth addressed the government's latest directive in a post on X on Saturday, writing that 'every passing day' proves why blacklisting Anthropic was 'the right move.' According to CNBC, Anthropic received no communication about a national security threat before Friday.

Anthropic characterized the dispute as a 'misunderstanding' and said that it is working to restore access to the models 'as soon as possible,' according to CNBC. The company believes the government's concern is around a 'potential narrow, non-universal jailbreak,' where a user could bypass a cybersecurity guardrail and ask Fable 5 to 'read a specific codebase and fix any software flaws.' Anthropic stated that if this standard was applied across the industry, it would essentially halt all new model deployments for all frontier model providers.