Anthropic disables latest Fable, Mythos AI models over US ‘national security’ concerns
AI company Anthropic has disabled its latest models just days after their release, following a US government directive banning non-US citizens from accessing them because of “national security” concerns.
On Wednesday, Anthropic launched its most powerful model so far. Named Fable 5, it is the first Mythos class model – Anthropic’s most advanced lineup of AI technology – to be made widely available.
Mythos was first announced in April but access was restricted over concerns about its ability to expose vulnerabilities in computer systems, including those of banks, governments and hospitals.
Earlier this month, in response to those concerns, President Trump signed an executive order creating a framework for AI developers to share models with the US government prior to their general release.
Around the same time, Anthropic itself called for a global pause in AI development in order to give humans time to catch up.
Earlier today, Anthropic released a statement saying: “The US government, citing national security authorities, has issued an export control directive to suspend all access to Fable 5 and Mythos 5 by any foreign national, whether inside or outside the United States, including foreign national Anthropic employees.
“The net effect of this order is that we must abruptly disable Fable 5 and Mythos 5 for all our customers to ensure compliance. Access to all other Anthropic models will not be affected.”
In its statement, Anthropic stated that the US government did not provide specific details of the national security concern. It then outlined the steps it had taken prior to releasing the model before concluding, “As we have stated publicly, we believe the government should have the ability to block unsafe deployments, as part of a statutory process that is transparent, fair, clear, and grounded in technical facts. This action does not adhere to those principles.”
Earlier this year, Trump ordered the US government to immediately stop using Anthropic models after the company rejected the Pentagon’s demand that it agree to unconditional military use of its Claude models.
Kiwi Chris Liddell, a former White House deputy chief of staff for policy during Donald Trump’s first presidential term, is a director of Anthropic and has written warning New Zealand not to get left behind.
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