Anthropic, a leading player in the artificial intelligence sector, announced on Friday that it has temporarily taken down its latest AI models, Fable 5 and Mythos 5, following a directive from the Trump administration aimed at preventing foreign nationals from utilizing these technologies.
This action represents a significant move by the U.S. government to impose restrictions on access to cutting-edge AI models. Earlier this week, Anthropic launched Fable to a wider audience, which is a scaled-back version of the more sophisticated Mythos model. Access to Mythos has been stringently controlled due to concerns over cybersecurity.
In its official statement, Anthropic expressed disagreement with how the directive was handled, mentioning that the government provided the notice late Friday afternoon without outlining specific national security issues. “We believe the government should implement measures to prevent unsafe deployments through a process that is transparent, fair, well-defined, and based on solid technical evidence,” the company stated. “This recent action does not reflect those values.”
Anthropic characterized the situation as a “misunderstanding” and is optimistic about reinstating access to its models in the near future.
The Commerce Department has yet to respond to requests for further comments on the situation.
