Just days after releasing a version of its most powerful AI tool to the public, Anthropic has been forced to suspend the model for all users following a ban on foreign nationals accessing the technology. President Trump ordered the restriction on non-American users, citing national security, and the company pulled Claude Fable 5 and the more advanced Mythos 5 from use.
The reversal marks a dramatic turn for Anthropic, which on Tuesday said it was releasing Fable 5 – a version of its Claude Mythos AI that it had previously deemed too powerful for public release. “Fable’s capabilities exceed those of any model we’ve ever made generally available,” the company said at the time, though it acknowledged that “releasing a model this capable comes with risks”. The company had put safeguards and user limitations in place, and roughly 150 groups that had been previewing Mythos were upgraded to a version without limits on cybersecurity or biology.
“Trump bans foreign access to Anthropic's new AI, forcing suspension of Fable and Mythos models.”
Mythos had stirred serious concerns among technology, finance and government leaders when it was first released privately in April. Canadian Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne told the BBC the attention was warranted because “it’s the unknown, unknown”. Anthropic co-founder Jack Clark last week told BBC Newsnight that AI tools were expanding so rapidly that the public should have a way to slow the technology’s advance: “You want the option to be able to take your foot off the gas and put your foot on the brake.”
Despite the company’s ongoing lawsuit against the US Department of Defense over its refusal to accept government use of its AI tools, US government agencies had been testing Mythos. Now, the Trump administration’s ban has upended access entirely, raising questions about the future of Anthropic’s products as its private valuation nears $1tn.