The US government has abruptly reversed course on Anthropic’s most advanced artificial intelligence tools, lifting an export ban just weeks after ordering the company to restrict access over national security concerns.
Anthropic said in a statement that it will begin restoring access to Claude Fable 5 and Mythos 5 on Wednesday after being notified that the US Department of Commerce has lifted restrictions on the two models. They were abruptly suspended on 12 June over concerns that they could be used by hackers to exploit weaknesses in computer systems.
“US lifts export ban on Anthropic's advanced AI tools weeks after suspension over hacking fears.”
Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick wrote in a letter to the tech company that Anthropic has addressed the risks. “Anthropic has agreed to proactively detect and address security risks associated with the models,” Lutnick wrote. The firm has also agreed to collaborate on future releases of its AI models and alert the government of any malicious activity, he added. The Commerce Department reserves the right to reconsider its decision to lift export restrictions if necessary, Lutnick wrote.
Mythos and Fable are two of Anthropic’s AI models built on its Claude platform, a rival to OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Google’s Gemini. Fable 5 is a version for the consumer market, capable of deep reasoning and performing complex tasks independently. Mythos 5 is designed for businesses and cybersecurity experts, able to identify vulnerabilities in computer code and exploit them. Both models were released on 9 June.
At the time of the suspension, the firm said US authorities had not pinpointed specific concerns about its technology even as it ordered both platforms to be suspended around the world. “Our understanding is that the government believes it has become aware of a method of bypassing, or ‘jailbreaking’ Fable 5,” the company said, referring to a process of slipping past software safety restrictions to unblock features. “However, we disagree that the finding of a narrow potential jailbreak should be cause for recalling a commercial model deployed to hundreds of millions of people.”
The Commerce Department’s letter, seen by the BBC, indicates a swift resolution to a dispute that had threatened to cut off global access to cutting-edge AI tools. The BBC has contacted the Department of Commerce for further information.