Scoop: Trump admin blocks foreign access to Anthropic's most powerful AI
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Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei. Photo: Jason Henry/Bloomberg via Getty Images
- The Trump administration is blocking foreign governments, companies and individuals from accessing Anthropic's most advanced AI models — leading the company to cut off all customer access altogether.
Why it matters: The move marks an escalation in Washington's effort to treat cutting-edge AI systems as national security assets.
- Anthropic now finds itself on a Pentagon blacklist deeming it too dangerous for the government's own use, and in a Commerce Department licensing regime deeming it too dangerous for foreign use.
Driving the news: Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick on Friday sent a letter to Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei saying that the Mythos 5 and Fable 5 models would be subject to export controls to any location outside of the U.S. and to all foreign persons within the country.
- An administration official told Axios the Commerce Department decided to take the action after another company claimed it was able to jailbreak Mythos, alarming the administration about possible national security risks.
- The administration tried to get Anthropic to pause releasing the latest models but was unsuccessful, the official said, prompting the export control letter.
- The model needs to remain locked down until the U.S. government's national security apparatus is hardened, the official said, adding that could happen in the next few weeks.
Zoom in: Per Commerce's letter, a license will be required for the export, re-export or domestic transfer of those Anthropic models.
- Furthermore, Anthropic will have to submit an additional application for individually validated licenses.
- Failure to comply would result in financial and civil penalties.
The other side: To ensure compliance, Anthropic said late Friday night it had to cut off access to Mythos and Fable for all customers.
- "We believe this is a misunderstanding and are working to restore access as soon as possible," the company said in a post to X.
Context: The Trump administration earlier this month released an executive order to test the most advanced AI models before they are deployed.
- Anthropic has a partnership with the Center for AI Standards and Innovation at Commerce for pre-deployment testing.
Yes, but: The executive order is voluntary and explicitly avoids a licensing regime — something White House chief AI adviser David Sacks was able to secure to avoid what he considers the "regulatory capture" of the biggest labs.
- An administration official said that Trump "does not want to hurt the industry and wants innovation to continue."
The bottom line: Anthropic's running fight with the government just got more complicated.
Editor's note: This story has been updated with Anthropic's statement.
