The US Commerce Department issued an unprecedented directive against a domestic AI company on June 13, ordering Anthropic to restrict foreign national access to its Fable 5 and Mythos 5 models. The government cited national security concerns tied to a jailbreak vulnerability.
Anthropic responded by taking both models fully offline rather than selectively blocking foreign users.
The directive escalated a months-long standoff that began in February 2026, when President Trump ordered federal agencies to cease using Anthropic technology. The Pentagon later labeled the firm a supply-chain risk, costing an estimated $200 million in federal contracts. The core tension stems from Anthropic’s refusal to allow unrestricted military use of its models.
Decentralized AI tokens rallied immediately. Venice (VVV) climbed roughly 14-15%, while Morpheus (MOR) jumped 21% within 24 hours. VVV trading volume surged nearly 200% to approximately $130 million, signaling fresh capital inflows driven by the logic that permissionless networks lack a single regulatory point of failure.
Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei has indicated the company is prepared to challenge the latest directive in court, a move that could undermine the investment thesis for decentralized AI alternatives if successful.